Where you live and who to contact
Paying off your arrears
What happens if rent is not paid
Ways to pay your rent
Housing Benefit to help pay your rent
Housing Benefit Overpayments

If you have any concerns about being able to pay your rent you must contact our Income Recovery Team as soon as possible, so we can help you. You can contact us by e-mail or phone our advisor for your area:

If you live in:-
Alum Rock 
Aston 
Great Barr  
Handsworth 
Hockley 
Kingstanding 
Lozells 
Nechells  
North Warwickshire 
Perry Barr 
Saltley 
Walsall 
Witton 
or you are a shared ownership resident

Please call Kam Hayer on 0121 766 1100.

If you live in :-
Balsall Heath
City Centre
Edgbaston
Highgate
Kings Norton
Moseley
Sandwell
Small Heath
Smethwick
Sparkbrook
Sparkhill

Please call Rubina Begum on 0121 766 1100.

 If you live in:-
Acocks Green
Bartley Green
Bordesley/Bordesley Green
Erdington
Hall Green
Harborne
Kings Heath
Ladywood
Rubery
Selly Oak
Selly Park
Stechford
Stirchley
Yardley
Ward End
Washwood Heath
Winson Green

Please call Leigh Burns on 0121 766 1100.

If you do not pay your rent, you are at risk of losing your home.

If you have a number of bills to pay then it is important to work out which are the most important. Our Income Recovery Team can discuss this with you and refer you to the Trinity Housing Resource Centre for free independent money and grant advice. Or you can contact them directly on 0121 554 8745. They can help you negotiate lower repayments on your outstanding bills and make sure that you are receiving all the benefits you are entitled to.

Paying off your arrears
To help you pay off your arrears contact our Income Recovery Team and we will ask you to work out your income and expenditure. To help you we have included a budget planner which you can print off and work out your monthly payments. It is important that this is accurate as we use this information to decide what is reasonable for you to pay towards your arrears.

What will happen if I don’t pay?
If you don’t pay your rent, Family will contact you either by telephone or post asking that you pay the outstanding arrears or contact our office. If the arrears are not cleared, you will receive a Notice of Seeking Possession of your home. If you have still not contacted us and no payments are forthcoming you will then receive a Possession Summons with a court date. At this stage it is important that you contact our Income Recovery Team to make an offer to repay the outstanding arrears. It is also important that you attend the Hearing. The Court will either make a Postponed Possession Order on payment of your current rent plus a sum off the arrears, or a Possession Order, which means the Association will seek to repossess your home.

If you still fail to pay as ordered by the Court, you will receive a Warrant of Possession with a date of Eviction. At this stage you should clear the debt or seek legal advice.

Eviction is the last stage and this action is not taken lightly. At any stage it is never too late to contact our team and negotiate a reasonable payment plan; we can only assist you in solving the problem if you contact us.

Ways to pay your rent
The Association offers several ways for you to pay your rent:

Direct Debit – payment is made directly from your bank account on a date and frequency of your choice. Complete the Direct Debit form provided.

Debit card- you can pay by debit card over the phone from 9-5pm by calling our Income Recovery Team on 0121 766 1100.

Rent card at any Post Office or Pay Point.

Standing Order – you can set this up at your bank.

Visit Family Housing – pay by cheque or debit card.

Cheque by post sent to our contact address.

Help with your rent?
Depending upon your circumstances you may be entitled to housing benefit, which will cover all of your rent or just some of it.  Your Income Recovery Officer will be able to assess whether you will be entitled to housing benefit. You will then be asked to complete a housing benefit application which should be taken or posted to your Housing Benefit Team, for which you should always ask for a receipt.

If you are entitled to full housing benefit you will not have to pay rent as it will be covered by housing benefit.  This will be paid either two weekly or four weekly by your local authority.  Family Housing Association has properties in Birmingham, Sandwell, Walsall and North Warwickshire.  Your Income Recovery Officer will advise you to which of these Authorities your housing benefit application should be sent.

Your Responsibility
As a tenant of Family Housing Association you are responsible for ensuring that the rent is paid, whether you pay the rent yourself or whether it is paid through housing benefit.  It is important, therefore, that you respond to any letters that you receive from your housing benefit office, quickly. Housing benefit is a temporary benefit and is reviewed regularly.  This means that they will ask you to provide information they need to ensure that you continue to receive your correct housing benefit entitlement.  Importantly, this means that you may find that you could become responsible for some or all of the rent.

Always tell the Housing Benefit Team if your circumstances change to be sure you receive the correct housing benefit.
 
Please remember that you are responsible for responding to your Housing Benefit Team every time that they write to you.

Partial Housing Benefit
Partial housing benefit will mean that although some of your rent will be covered, you will be responsible for the balance and this must be paid directly to Family Housing Association by you.

Housing Benefit Overpayments
From time to time if incorrect information is provided by the tenant to the Housing Benefit Team an overpayment may occur.  These overpayments are recoverable from the tenant and generally appear as a charge on the rent account.  Your Income Recovery Officer will advise you when this happens and will approach you in order to recover the overpayment from you.