One Call
Welcome to One Call, your first point of contact for all your repairs requests and enquiries.
Our new service means that you can report all your repairs direct from your own home by telephone, email, on-line or you can report your repair from your local neighbourhood office using our direct phone lines. Either way, one of our professional customer service advisers will be pleased to talk to you about what needs doing and let you know how quickly it will be done.
This information tells you how to get in touch, what you will need to tell us when you contact us and what you can expect to happen next. It also tells you what to do if you are not happy with the service you receive.
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- Click here to report a repair online>
- By telephone: Call 01744 637383.
All calls are charged at local rate.
- In person: At your local neighbourhood office using the free phone line in reception. No need to dial.
- By e-mail: onecall@helenahousing.co.uk
- By letter to:
One Call
Helena Housing
Alexandra Park
Prescot Road
St Helens
WA10 3TT
One Call is open 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.
If your repair is urgent, you should contact us by telephone or from your local neighbourhood office .
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Telephone us on 01744 637383. If One Call is not open when you call, you will be put straight through to our 24 hour emergency service. Please remember that the out of hours service is for emergencies only.
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You can help us give you a fast and accurate service by giving us the following information clearly when you phone:
- Your name.
- Your address.
- Your phone number.
- When it is convenient for us to call to do the work.
- The type of repair needed.
- The exact location including whether upstairs or downstairs and in which room the repair is needed.
- Any information about the equipment that needs repairing such as the name of the manufacturer, the model and serial number, the size and colour.
- Tell us if you are without heat or water or you are unable to use the toilet or have a wash.
- Anything else you think will help us carry out the repair safely.
Our trained customer service advisers will ask you a series of questions to help us find out what needs doing. This will save time in the long run by making sure we send someone out who has the right skills and the right equipment, helping us to fix your repair first time. Please be patient, listen to the questions and answer them as fully as you can.
- If we give you a day when we are coming out to fix your repair, please tell us if this time is inconvenient and please be at home when we call.
- Please Note: A person over the age of 16 must be present when we come to your home.
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The One Call team is the first point of contact for all your repairs requests and enquiries. We are specially trained to provide you with a friendly, professional and reliable repairs service. Here are the standards of service you can expect from us.
- We will answer the phone within 5 rings.
- We will respond to e-mails within 4 working hours.
- We will respond to letters within 5 working days.
- We will be polite, helpful and professional and treat you as an individual.
- We will ask the right questions to find out exactly what the problem is and give you clear information about how quickly the repair will be done and what you can expect to happen next.
- We will take ownership of your problem, help you to get it resolved and keep you informed at every stage.
- We will keep our promises to you and aim to get it right first time so you don’t have to ring back.
- If we cannot resolve your enquiry straight away, we will ring you back the same day.
- We will give you clear information about how to use the service, and keep you informed about how well we are meeting our standards.
- We will keep ourselves up to date with regular training sessions so that we can improve our service to you.
- We will listen to your comments, compliments and complaints and ask for regular feedback from you so that we can take on board your views to improve what we do.
- We will provide a flexible service, and make arrangements to help you if English is not your first language, you have a disability or you are frail or vulnerable.
- We will offer you a Reference Number as receipt of your call which can be used for further enquiries.
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When you report your repair we will tell you whether we have prioritised it as an emergency, urgent or routine or whether we will carry out the work as part of one of our planned programmes. This section tells you more about how we decide whether your repair is an emergency or urgent and how this affects how quickly your repair is done. There is more information about how we prioritise repairs below.
Emergency
If your repair is an emergency where there is immediate danger to personal health and safety or serious damage to property we will call direct to your home within 24 hours.
Urgent
Repairs that need to be done to stop further damage to the property or that seriously affect your day to day living will be completed by someone calling direct to your home within five working days.
Routine
For most non urgent repairs, we will offer you a choice of morning or afternoon appointment within 20 working days. Alternatively, if we need to find out more about the kind of repair that is needed, we will come out and inspect the repair within 3 working days. We will ask you when this will be convenient and whether you prefer the morning or the afternoon.
Planned Maintenance
If your repair is not urgent we may decide to group it with other similar repairs and do them all together in one area. We will write and tell you if this is the case with your repair. Usually these will be repairs on the outside of your home and involve replacing things that wear out over time like gutters or fences. We will do this kind of repair within 6 months and let you know in advance when this will be and provide an estimated “cut-off” date for your area.
Regular Maintenance
Gas appliances will be serviced annually. Painting of woodwork outside and in communal areas will be undertaken every six years.
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For all routine repairs we will telephone you to confirm a day and time (am or pm) and any special preparations not less than 24 hours before the repair is undertaken. When carrying out the repair:
- We will be courteous, professional, helpful and leave your home as we find it.
- We will show you our identity card so that you can be sure we are who we say we are before you let us into your home.
- We may call after the repair has been completed to check on the quality of work and your satisfaction with our service.
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Accidents do happen
If a repair is needed because of your own action or neglect, we will carry out the repair and charge you for it. We will give you an estimate for the work if you wish.
We strongly advise you to take out a home contents insurance policy. Helena Housing offers a policy which is tailored to tenants needs and payments can be made weekly with your rent.
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If you are unhappy with our service contact One Call on 01744 637383 who will help you resolve the problem.
If you remain dissatisfied you can make a complaint. You can get more information about our complaints procedure and pick up a complaints form from your local office. Our One Call team will be happy to send a copy out to you or fill in a form on your behalf, alternatively, your neighbourhood officer / assistant may assist you in completing the form.
We value your complaints, comments and compliments as your feedback helps us to improve our service in the future. If you want to comment on our service, please pick up a comments card in your neighbourhood office.
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It is important that you allow our employees or our contractors into your home to carry out essential repairs and gas servicing. This is for safety reasons, to prevent further damage and to ensure money is not wasted on unsuccessful visits. Please try to keep appointments and allow access when identification is shown.
If we have your phone number we will normally ring you before coming to prevent wasted trips.
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We can compensate you if the disturbance to your home is extensive when undertaking repair works. Your neighbourhood office can provide details of how we can do this.
If you misuse the repairs service we may charge you.
How we will decide when your repair will be done
Emergency repairs within 24 hours
- Total loss of electrical power
- Total loss of power to all sockets or lighting circuits
- Total loss of water supply
- Gas leak following attendance from National Grid – 0800 111 999
- Blocked flue to open fire or boiler
- Total loss of space or water heating (incl. immersion heaters if this is the only form of hot water) between 1st November and 30th April
- Blocked drains where raw sewerage is present.
- Blocked toilet (where there is no other working toilet in the home)
- Burst water pipe which cannot be contained
- All security works
- Any repair likely to cause injury or loss of life or limb
Urgent repairs within 5 working days
- Repair/renewal of immersion heater – if this is not the only form of hot water
- Partial loss of water supply
- Partial loss of space or water heating between 1st November and 30th April
- Blocked waste or rainwater gullies where no sewerage is present
- Tap or stopcock seized
- Roof leaks causing internal damage
Routine repairs within 20 working days
- Sink units/kitchen units/wash-hand basins/baths – where repair rather than renewal is required
- Repairs to doors, door frames, ironmongery
- Plastering
- Re-washering of taps
- Renewal of sink or kitchen base units
- Repairs to gates
- Installation of electrical humidistat fans
- Repairs to individual sockets/lamp holders
- Blocked sink, bath or basin
- Loose/defective stairs/handrails/floorboard
Planned repairs within 6 months
- Fencing and walls provided by Helena Housing
- Paths and paving
- Gates
- Gutters / downspouts
- Fascias and soffits
- Brickwork to outhouse
- Garage repairs
- Window frames
- Pointing
- Flaunching
- Airbricks
- Chimney pots
- External doors and frames
- Rendering and external covering/painting
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These repairs are your responsibility as a tenant. Please do not call us to ask us to do them. You should arrange for somebody competent to carry out any work in your home. We may charge you if you have work done that later needs putting right or causes more damage.
- Repairing any equipment, fixtures or fittings belonging to you.
- Providing and replacing light bulbs, electric plugs, fuses, fluorescent tubes and starters (except those in communal areas).
- Replacing light bulbs to electric fires.
- Repairing minor plaster defects that can be made good with a “do it yourself” filler.
- Repairing any damage caused by you, your family or visitors to your home.
- Maintaining boundary and dividing walls, fences and hedging except those provided by Helena Housing.
- Any repairs due to misuse or damage to fixtures and fittings not caused by normal wear and tear.
- Repairing or replacing washing lines.
- Repairing and maintaining the garden including paths and patios installed by you.
- Repairing and replacing door furniture provided or fitted by you.
- Providing any additional keys, locks, bolts, handles and latches you require including where existing keys are lost or stolen.
- Testing and replacing batteries in non-mains operated smoke alarms.
- Outbuildings, sheds, garages or greenhouses at your home other than those we have provided permanently for you.
- Clearing bath, sink and w.c. waste pipes and gullies from blockages resulting from neglect or carelessness by you, members of your household or visitors.
- Ensuring that your own fittings (such as cookers) are installed correctly and meet current safety standards.
- Easing and adjusting internal doors.
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PLEASE RING: 01744 637383
- Only report an emergency repair if there is immediate danger to personal health and safety or serious damage to property.
In the event of an emergency:
- Report the fault as soon as you can.
- If you smell gas contact National Grid. Turn off gas, open windows and ventilate the property.
- DO NOT turn on or off any light switches or power supply.
- If you have a burst or leak turn off your water supply at the stop tap.
- If the emergency is due to an electrical fault turn off power supplies at the main fuse box or meter.
If you misuse this service we may charge you for the repair. The charge will be based on the cost of the works plus a £20 administration fee. We won’t charge you for a repair if it is a genuine emergency.
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- NATIONAL GRID : 0800 111 999
- ST HELENS COUNCIL: 01744 456000
- POLICE: 0151 709 6010
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Click here to report a repair online>
Click here to find out how to contact our local neighbourhood offices>
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