Crawley Homes’ customer service standards Communicating with you Phones
We will respond to voicemails and requests for contact via telephone within two working days. If the person you are contacting is away from the office, they will leave an alternative contact.
Instant messages We will respond within two working days, provided that the person you (e.g. WhatsApp) are messaging is available. If your issue is urgent, please contact us in a different way. Online forms
We will review these within two working days. If your enquiry is urgent, please contact us by phone.
Emails
We aim to provide an initial response to you within two working days, with a maximum target of five working days. If your issue will take longer to resolve, we will keep you informed.
Letters
We will respond to other written communication within five working days of receipt.
Plain English
We will write to you using plain English and explain any technical terms.
Out of office
We will always set appropriate out of office responses to emails and voicemail, so you know when a named contact is unavailable.
Complaints We will follow the standards set out by the Housing Ombudsman for formal complaint handling.
Contacting us Contact information You will have named Surveyor and Housing Officer for your area. We will keep these updated on our website and provide contact information on (forthcoming) communal noticeboards if you live in a block of flats. The name of your Housing Officer will be included on all rent letters. Right person
We work as one council. If you raise an issue with any of our team, we will aim to assist you directly or we will transfer you to the right person. If we are unable to reach that person, we will send a ‘task’ to them through our housing management system and give you the task number. If your enquiry relates to another division within the council, we will transfer you to that division.
Ongoing issues
If you have an ongoing issue, we will agree with you how and when we will update you.
Needs and preferences
When you contact us to request a service, we will ask you about your specific needs and preferences to help us tailor our services to you.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
We will respect your privacy and confidentiality by: • asking you security questions when you phone us • only passing sensitive information to contractors and partners in line with GDPR
Alternative formats
We will ensure that we retain methods of communication that aren’t reliant upon online access for those who need it. We will provide translation services or alternative formats upon request.