Please be careful with claims companies | News

Thanks to those who’ve contacted us and shared concerns about the behaviour of some people representing claims companies operating on our estates. We’ve had recent reports that people have claimed to be from Bolton at Home as a tactic to try to get inside your home. Others have previously claimed to be from Bolton Council.

If they mislead you about who they are and pressure you into claiming for property disrepair, please let us know. We can report them to trading standards. We know from past experiences some have even gone as far as forging tenant signatures on forms.

These people represent claims handlers or solicitors and they target areas of rented and social housing.

Disrepair claim companies use a legal scheme that was introduced to protect tenants from bad landlords. They use it to make money out of you and your home, usually up to £500 per referral (whether or not the claim is real).

We don’t want you to lose money. Unfortunately, as a result of disrepair claims, some tenants have been left with the costs of survey charges and credit agreement charges of over £500 for “no win, no fee” to cover legal cost insurance.

Please be careful before you commit to any agreements with these companies. They could put you at financial risk and pose a potential risk to your health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We defend the cases made against us and we have a successful record, but it’s expensive for us to go to court. The more that we spend on this means the less we have for repairs, home improvements and other services for all tenants.

Please be aware of anyone who says they’re from Bolton at Home if they turn up to your house unexpectedly, without an appointment or ID.

If you have any concerns, please phone us on 01204 328000 or Citizens Advice on 0300 330 9071.

We thank you for your patience and understanding with any outstanding repairs. We’re still carrying out emergency repairs and working to get our full repairs service up and running as soon as we can, all in ways that will keep the risk of infection to a minimum.

If you had a repair appointment postponed previously due to the impact of Coronavirus, we’ll contact you and arrange a new appointment that’s convenient for you when we’re able to resume a full service.

We’ll keep you updated on Facebook and our website, so you know when we can take new reports to respond to less urgent repairs.

You can still report an emergency repair 24/7. An emergency repair is one that might result in harm to people or property if it is not fixed quickly. Please phone us on 01204 328000.

If you smell gas, call the National Grid emergency number 0800 111 999.