How Automation Helped a Tenant at Jigsaw Homes Increase Their Monthly Income

Jigsaw Homes Group is one of the largest housing providers in England with more than 36,000 homes across the North-West and East Midlands. It works to help regenerate neighbourhoods and increase life opportunities for individuals and communities. Its vision is for everyone to live successfully in a home they can afford.

Jigsaw Homes had been using Voicescape Collections for more than 10 years, using it to change their traditional approach to tenant arrears resulting in annual savings of over £100,000 in internal resource costs and a 66% increase in payment arrangements.

Voicescape Collections automates the numerous tasks required to reach customers in arrears – such as calling, sending a text, or leaving a voice message. It transforms labour intensive, costly and, often, ineffective outbound calling activity into efficient and productive inbound calls, giving income officers more time to provide one-on-one support to those tenants who need it most. This is especially important during a period in the sector where resources and finances are massively challenged.

Helping tenants - an example

A Jigsaw resident recently responded to a Voicescape Collection’s automated call which was referred to one of Jigsaw’s Welfare Benefit Officer (WBO).

The resident, a single, self-employed father caring for his 15-year-old son who has significant learning difficulties, had to cut back on his working hours and was, as a consequence of his reduced income, struggling to meet the rent payments.

A Welfare Benefit Officer was assigned to the case and carried out a home visit. The officer was able to carry out a Disability Living Allowance (DLA) assessment for the child, help with claims for Jigsaw’s own hardship fund and disability carers allowance benefits and even report work required to the roof.

The resident faced challenges with literacy and numeracy, making it difficult for him to manage these tasks without support. Despite his efforts to pay as much as possible, he was growing increasingly anxious about his growing rent arrears. It was evident that he needed support and assistance in handling his finances.  

Thanks to Voicescape’s simple and effective way of reaching tenants, and with support from Jigsaw, this resident is now able to continue to work without losing out on any of the benefits or without risk of them being affected and has seen his monthly income increase by £1,114; a fantastic result for someone who was previously unaware of any of these additional entitlements.