Customer Accounts Officer (BRISTOL)

Customer Accounts Officer (BRISTOL)
Offering between £30,000 – £35,000 per annum
Bristol, Christchurch, Greenham

About The Company

Their core mission is to be a leading landlord, providing great service to their residents and customers. But as well as quality housing services, their work doesn’t stop at the front door. They offer a range of services, investing in communities, to help people and their neighbourhoods be the best they can be.

You will be accountable for the proactive day-to-day delivery of a sector leading tenure blind income recovery service within a defined locality. Delivering a proactive customer centred service that take proactive action to manage customer accounts, prevent and action customer debt. Referring customers for supportive interventions as appropriate to enable them to be sustain and thrive in their homes. Whilst championing their values of being kind, respectful, inclusive, ambitious, responsible, and collaborative.

Key Responsibilities

• To take responsibility to deliver the right outcome for our customer in a safe and timely way.
• Demonstrate everyone safe and well everywhere, every day by making health and safety a primary consideration in your decision making
• Support the achievement of the agreed set of performance targets both for your team and for your locality
• Establish and maintain own effectiveness by developing working relationships with all stakeholders, ensuring integrated contribution to Sovereign’s corporate objectives whilst observing Sovereign’s policies, procedures, and ways of working
• Undertake proactive, supportive preventative work and action to stop Sovereign customers falling into arrears and escalate sensitively and in a timely manner where this is unsuccessful.
• Work collaboratively with the locality management team to deliver a customer-centric service 2 Sovereign Housing Association Limited is charitable
• Develop own capability through continual personal and professional development that will assist in improving own performance in the role, ensuring all core and mandatory training is completed and kept up to date.
• Undertake other duties within the level of responsibility, to meet the changing needs of the organisation
• Work proactively and collaboratively with Sovereign customers to take proactive action to manage customer accounts, prevent and action customer debt. Offer customers appropriate advice and refer to relevant internal and external agencies offering welfare and debt advice, more specialist support or supportive interventions.
• Complete comprehensive Income and Expenditure statements with customers to assist in creating realistic, affordable, and sustainable arrangements to be made to clear outstanding debts in a timely manner.
• Liaise, refer, and work in partnership where necessary with appropriate agencies and partners, both internal and external. Including but not limited to Housing Benefit, Department of Work and Pensions, Homelessness, Social Services, Floating Support Providers, Independent money, debt, or legal advice services
• Hold the Data Steward role for data quality related to Customer Accounts as set out in Sovereign’s data landscape. Ensuring that accurate records are maintained in line with business processes and comprehensive notes are made relating to customer contact, arrears actions and stages and any agreements made
• Accurately prepare all relevant paperwork required for court action. Respond appropriately and in a timely manner to queries from Judges and Court Staff relating to legal cases within a defined locality.
• Proactive management of all current arrears cases where a court order has been obtained and to progress cases as necessary that are in default of such orders in line with Sovereign’s procedures.
• Attend court as the main representative for Sovereign for all cases of unpaid Housing costs
• Manage and conduct evictions for arrears, in line with Sovereign’s procedures, the police and Court Bailiffs as appropriate.
• Promote a positive collaborative culture of Building Safety and Compliance. Take personal responsibility for escalating any concerns to the Building Safety & Compliance Team for consideration and/or investigation.

Knowledge and Skill

• Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of welfare benefit entitlements, particularly housing related benefits and all changes due to Welfare reforms.
• Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of local grants and funding that may be applicable to a customer’s circumstances.
• Keep up to date with regulatory, legislative and industry best practice. 3 Sovereign Housing Association Limited is charitable
• Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of best practice and internal policies and procedures relating to arrears prevention and collection
• Ability to prepare all relevant paperwork for court and carry out D.I.Y possession action representing Sovereign in arrears related cases.
• Ability to impact assess and to understand the difference between ‘major’ and ‘minor’ data issues. * Knowledge of methods to monitor the quality of data and identify issues e.g. reconciliations

In our company values we aim for equity at all stages of the recruitment process, please let us know if we can do anything to make the process more accessible to you.