An update on your repairs service

You worked with us last year, to select and appoint our new repairs provider, Morgan Sindall Property Services (MSPS). 

We’re now 18 months into our contract with MSPS and have been continuously monitoring and reviewing our repairs service. Sadly, we know some of you have not received the service you deserve and need. Completing essential repairs on your homes and communal areas have unfortunately taken far longer than usual. We’ve also faced the challenges of clearing a pre-existing backlog of repairs along with a nationwide shortage of labour and materials. We’re sorry if you’ve been impacted by this.

To ensure we get our repairs service right we’ve put improvement plans in place. These are closely monitored by us, MSPS and our customer-led Repairs Forum, and we are confident that you can expect to see great improvements by winter 2023.

Your feedback

When MSPS carry out a repair in your home, you receive a text or email survey asking how they did. Over the last six months, you’ve given your repairs a rating of 4.3 out of 5. You’ve also told us you find your operatives are ‘polite’, ‘friendly’ and ‘helpful’ and the service is ‘professional’ and ‘quick’. Whilst we’re happy with this feedback we know there is still improvements we need to make. Our communication needs to be better, especially when operatives are running late for appointments. We’re working with MSPS and the Repairs Forum to find effective, long-lasting solutions. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to improve your repairs service.

What steps have been taken?

We worked with MSPS to create an improvement plan which has successfully reduced the number of repairs awaiting appointments and the time taken to complete jobs. As part of these improvements:

1. Our Board, Directors and MSPS have set targets for improvements in areas such as the number of days to complete repairs, number of repairs awaiting appointments, and appointments kept. These are reported on weekly to ensure all teams are kept accountable. We’re also holding monthly operational meetings for teams to share feedback and ensure progress is being made.
   
   
2. Our customer-led Repairs Forum has been launched, bringing customers together to review the quality of their repairs service, and let us know where it’s not working as it should. You can find out more about the Forum and how to get involved by visiting: moat.co.uk/im-acustomer/get-involved.
   
   
3. MSPS has been recruiting more operatives and office staff.
   
   
4. Our Building Repairs surveyors are carrying out more inspections to ensure the quality of the repairs.
   
   
5. We have partnered with four additional contractors who are working on older communal repairs.
   
   
6. We have been able to halve the number of our outstanding repairs since January 2023.

Need to report a repair? The quickest way to report a repair is via our online customer portal, MyMoat. You can also email us at customer@moat.co.uk or by calling our Customer Service Centre on 0300 323 0011.