Factoring Services- Important Update Regarding Covid-19

26/03/2020     

Important Update Regarding Covid-19 from Sam Cribb, Head of Highland Residential

I hope this finds you and your family well. We sadly all find ourselves in a period of uncertainty and change with the current outbreak of Covid-19.

As you know on the evening of 23rd March 2020 the Government confirmed that all non-essential services should be suspended whilst we all stay home wherever possible to protect our NHS and those most vulnerable in our communities, working together to stem the spread of this virus.

Following this announcement, we have made the decision to suspend the following services for the initial 3-week period as outlined by the Government:

Site inspections

  • Grounds Maintenance service which includes all maintenance relating to communal open spaces
  • Stairwell Cleaning service, where this is currently provided
  • All non-emergency work to communal open spaces and within stairwells will be put on hold during this period.

    Any non-essential repairs will still be logged but will not be actioned until the restrictions are lifted. As you will be aware, we have no way of knowing when these restrictions will be lifted, we will be reviewing the current situation in line with Government guidance and reacting to any changes as promptly as possible.

     

    Paying Your Service Charge

    It is important that you do not stop your regular payments either by standing order or direct debit. These payments will include essential services which will continue uninterrupted, such as utility contracts and public liability insurance. It also covers any immediate need for emergency repairs and budgeted services which may be required later in the year.

     

    If you are personally impacted by COVID-19 please contact the team to discuss your situation.

     

    You will not be charged for services for the period of the suspension. What this means is that for the duration of the suspension of services we will not invoice you for grounds maintenance or stairwell cleaning which has not been carried out.

Emergency Repairs

We will continue to work with our contractors to provide cover for emergency work should this be required during this period. This will be provided only where the work is deemed an emergency and therefore cannot wait and will only be carried out in line with all safety precautions to protect our customers and contractors.

Staying in Contact

The factoring team is set up to work remotely and have robust systems in place to continue to work and handle any issues and enquiries. We can be contacted by email at factoring@highlandresidential.co.uk or on the office line, 01349 855784, which is diverted to staff mobiles. The phone line does however only ring on one line instead of the usual three so we would ask that where possible you email us in the first instance.

During this period of remote working our ability to issue and receive letters by post is compromised, we  therefore, encourage that if we do not hold an email address (if you receive a copy of this by post in the coming days) for you to contact us at your earliest convenience to provide us with a contact email address. This can be done by emailing factoring@highlandresidential.co.uk or phoning on 01349 855784.

We will post updates on our website and Facebook page with the most up to date information on our service. Please visit www.highlandresidential.co.uk

As before we are contactable via email factoring@highlandresidential.co.uk and telephone 01349 855784.

We thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.

 

Best wishes

Sam Cribb

Head of Highland Residential