Customer Care
Our commitment to you continues beyond Move In Day, with our dedicated After Care team
We have a dedicated team to manage your after care
Our After Care team are there to ensure that any problems you encounter during the first 2 years (the ‘Builder’s Rectification Period’ for which Dere Street are responsible) will be taken care of in a friendly and timely manner.
The team comprise ‘warranty-trained’ property co-ordinators who are on hand to make certain that every defect reported is processed quickly and where work may be required, a suitable contractor is deployed to make good the issue.
How we can help…
To make life as easy and convenient as possible, you can report problems at any time of day or night – 7 days a week, using our Occupant Portal. This can be accessed by use of the FREE App ‘Managing Your New Home’ which you can download using this QR Code.
You have direct access to the Portal and a wealth of other useful information. Alternatively, if you are a laptop or desktop pc user, no need to load the App – just go straight to the portal at: www.defects.uk.com/afterbuild
You will find that often, when you report a new problem, you will receive a call from one of our property coordinators just to check that we have fully understood the issue and to ensure we have all the information we require followed by any visit agreed to be necessary.
EMERGENCIES
In the unlikely event you experience an emergency you must follow our emergency procedure.
It is important that you ONLY use this for genuine emergencies as described below otherwise a call out charge will be incurred.
Check the drop down list to confirm if your situation is classified as an emergency before you call.
In Office Hours 8:30 – 17:00 contact Customer Care
01444 711 424
Out of hours during the hours of 17:00 – 8:29, Weekends & Bank Holidays 24 hrs
0331 630 0531
EMERGENCIES
In the event of an emergency YOU ARE COVERED for two years by Dere Street Homes
An emergency is defined as: – “A sudden and unforeseen incident immediately creating a risk to the health of the occupant(s) and/or damage to the property rendering it uninhabitable, insecure or dangerous.”
There may be occasions when you consider a situation to be an emergency but to ensure we can provide a prompt and reliable service to those genuinely in need of our assistance we must apply the following guidelines. Please DO NOT call to report an emergency unless your problem fits at least one of the following criteria.
Problems will be deemed to be an emergency when: –
The toilet is the only toilet in the property and cannot be flushed manually using a bucket of water;
The toilet is leaking even when not in use and the leak is gushing and non-containable;
The bath, shower, basin or pipe-work is leaking even when not in use and the leak is gushing and non-containable;
External drain(s) is blocked and backing-up (if it is deemed that the cause of the blockage was due to inappropriate use by the occupant, the occupant may be liable to be charged for the call-out costs).
Problems will be deemed to be an emergency when: –
The boiler fails to operate between 1st October and 31st March;
If the boiler is older than 12 months and has not been serviced, the call will not be deemed an emergency (the occupant is responsible for maintaining boiler service intervals);
If the occupant still has hot water and heating this will not be deemed an emergency;
If there is the possibility of a gas leak the occupant must leave the property and call their gas supplier and/or the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 immediately;
If there is the possibility of an airlock in the radiators the occupant will be advised that should an engineer be deployed, they will be covered in the event that the airlock is due to a faulty radiator valve, otherwise if the radiators merely needed bleeding, the occupant may be charged for the call out costs.
Problems will be deemed to be an emergency when: –
There is no electrical supply and the consumer unit RCD switch fails to restore the supply;
If there is no supply to the immediate neighbourhood this will not be deemed an emergency as it would appear to be a utility company problem.
Problems will be deemed to be an emergency when: –
An exterior door is damaged compromising the security of your home;
A double-glazed unit is damaged compromising the security of your home;
The interconnecting door between an integral garage and your home and the garage door itself are damaged compromising the security of your home;
A damaged door or double-glazed unit in a detached garage or outbuilding is not deemed to be an emergency;
Damage to an interior door that does not compromise the security of your home is not deemed to be an emergency.