Missed heating, servicing, and electrical safety appointments cost ateb over £100,000 each year.  Money we would much rather be putting into providing better living solutions for our customers by improving homes and communities, this will also help to keep the cost of your rent down.  To tackle this, our Compliance Team have developed a comprehensive programme, working closely with our housing coordinators, repairs schedulers, and planned maintenance team, designed to improve access and reduce costly missed servicing appointments.

They identified that many customers don’t open appointment letters, leading to missed safety checks. By speaking directly with customers, they gained valuable insights and tailored an improved process.

Vanessa Mullins, our Compliance Management Lead, laid out the plan:

Step 1: Making your appointment: We will always start with a phone call to book the appointment and a text message to confirm the details.  If we can’t get hold of you, we will select a date and send you a letter with your appointment details.  Our repairs schedulers are supporting us to achieve this.

Step 2: One week before your appointment.

A reminder sms text is sent, and a postcard reminder sent in the post.

Step 3: The day before your appointment.

A reminder sms text is sent.

Step 4: The day of your appointment.

The engineer will send you a text when they are about to travel to your home.

These steps ensure clear communication and increase the likelihood of successful appointments.  Vanessa adds:

“Our priority is keeping customers safe in their homes and these safety checks are ‘a must’ in doing this. By improving how we communicate, we aim to ensure essential checks are completed on time, decreasing the number of missed appointments and reducing the costs to ateb customers.  We really need our customers to work with us to achieve minimum no access rate which will then benefit all ateb customers.”

What to expect during a check:

• Electrical Checks:

These are required every five years to maintain safety.

It can take a few hours depending on the size and age of the property.  The electrician will test appliances, power sockets, lighting and other fixings.  They should identify any circuit hazards or faulty appliances and test the fuse board and fire alarms for safety.

• Gas Checks:

We do these every year and they are essential for compliance and customer safety.

This only takes around 60 minutes and the Gas engineer will check for signs of gas or carbon monoxide leaks, test the flue pipes and ventilation to ensure free from blockage. They will also test all safety controls are operating correctly and check the condition of the hoses and seals.

Why It Matters

Without regular inspections there is a higher risk of electrical faults going unnoticed which could lead to more serious issues.  Almost half of all accidental house fires in the UK are caused by faulty wiring, highlighting a serious safety concern for households nationwide. Shockingly, over 65 people lose their lives each year due to electrical faults in their homes emphasising the importance of ensuring that electrical checks are kept up to date.

We believe our new initiative will enhance efficiency, improve safety, and reduce costs.

Published 08/01/2025