Guidance

Service family accommodation customer service charter (accessible version)

Published 11 December 2019

Service Family Accommodation Customer Service Charter: a commitment to decent living standards and excellent customer service

The Customer Service Charter is DIO’s commitment to Service personnel and their families to provide decent living standards and excellent customer service. We are committed to improving the condition and standard of the Service Family Accommodation (SFA) estate; sustaining improved levels of maintenance and repair performance; and enhancing customer service.

Customer Service Charter Standards

Through an easy to use online allocation system and a free Helpdesk service, we will provide you with: A safe home, meeting ‘Decent Homes Standard’. A single point of contact for all accommodation enquiries Convenient move-in and move-out appointments. A 24/7 response maintenance service.

Our relationship with you

Every SFA occupant will have their individual housing requirements recognised, and we shall do our best to meet these. Whenever you contact us, you will be treated fairly, with respect and in a professional way. Every SFA occupant will receive the information they need about their home, including the services provided. Every SFA occupant will be able to influence future service delivery by providing feedback. Personal data and information will be protected.

Occupant responsibility

We expect you:

• look after your home, report any problems in a timely manner and take steps to help prevent maintenance issues arising
• ensure contractors have access to your home to carry out mandatory inspections, especially gas safety
• treat our staff with respect
• arrange a pre move-out appointment and then prepare your home to the defined move-out standard
• engage with Customer Satisfaction surveys to help us improve our service.

What can you expect from us:

Allocation of Service Family Accommodation

On receipt of an online application within 4 months of the required by date, we will make an offer of suitable accommodation within 15 working days in line with policy (JSP 464). If SFA is not available for any reason we will issue a Non-Availability Certificate and start the process for identifying a comparable home to entitlement from within the private rental market. In either event, you will then have 14 days to accept or reject the offer.

Move-in

We will ensure that your allocated SFA meets all statutory and mandatory requirements, the Government’s Decent Homes Standard, and the agreed move-in standard. The intention of the move-in standard is to ensure the property is clean, tidy and in a good state of repair.

Response maintenance

Any defects with your property should be reported to the 24/7 Helpdesk (0800 707 6000). Response times will depend upon the nature of the failure/issue, as follows:

Emergency: Make safe within 3 hours. Critical: Make safe and restore functionality within 12 hours. Urgent: Restore functionality within 5 working days. Routine: Restore functionality within 15 working days.

We will always aim to complete the repair on the first visit at an appointment date/time that suits you, and to complete all repairs within the above timescales.

Complaints

We will endeavour to resolve complaints as quickly as possible. You can raise a Stage 1 Complaint within 28 days of an incident, either online, via telephone, or in person at a Customer Service Centre. You will receive a response, or an update, within 15 working days. If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint response at Stage 1, please refer to JSP 464, Volume 1, Part 1, Chapter 6 for details of Stages 2 and 3 of the Special to Type Housing Complaints process.

To find your nearest local customer service centre either contact the Amey Helpdesk on 0800 707 6000 or visit the Amey Defence Services website.