We would like to raise awareness about disrepair claim companies who may wish to make money from you and your home.

Generally, companies will make approaches by door knocking or calling you. In order to gain access to your property, they will often say that they are from ‘the housing’ or working on behalf of Leeds & Yorkshire Housing Association and that they are there to complete a survey on the property. Sometimes, they may carry an ID badge similar to one that our staff wear. Please be advised that they are not calling on behalf of Leeds & Yorkshire Housing Association. They are claims management firms or firms of solicitors seeking business. One of their main aims is to make money, potentially up to £500 per referral. Some may inform you that your home is in need of repair and encourage you to put a disrepair claim in against your landlord, Leeds & Yorkshire Housing Association.

Disrepair claims, on average, take a few months or potentially years to resolve and in some cases can cause undue further stress. Some firms of solicitors, who act on your behalf, will advise you not to allow us to undertake any repairs whilst the claim is in progress. The firms have no legal authority to do this, but will seek to cause further delays in order to gain more costs for their time only. All of which results in further delays in having the repairs carried out to your home – which was the basis for your claim in the first place. Please note that in entering a contract with solicitors, you may also be liable for charges if you change your mind and no longer wish to pursue a disrepair claim.

Please be advised of the following:

1. Our surveyors or repairs team will always make an appointment with you prior to visiting your home.
2. If you are unsure as to who a company is trying to gain access to your home, please call us our Customer Services Team (CST) on 0113 278 3335 or send a message to our Facebook account and we can advise you.
3. It is your legal right to seek legal advice or representation should you wish to pursue a disrepair claim, however, we would encourage all customers to seek further advice if you have been approached by a claims management company. You can contact Citizens Advice or the Housing Ombudsman for help and support or speak to us directly.
4. We would encourage our customers to contact us in the first instance if you are unhappy with any significant delays to repairs to your home or you feel that a repair has not been resolved appropriately, despite many attempts. We will do our upmost to resolve your issue as quickly as possible. Many issues can be resolved through our complaints procedure which will not result in any potential costs to you or your landlord. Disrepair claims cost LYHA a lot of time and money to deal with, money which we could be spending on investing back into our homes, our communities or developing new homes.