Sunday, 05 February 2012

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Pay My Rent and Deal with Rent Arrears

PAY MY RENT

There are lots of ways to pay your rent. Click on the links below to find out more information.

1. At the Post Office or any other rent shop that displays a PayPoint sign|

2. Through your Bank|

3. Over the Internet or Phone|

4. By Post|

5. Through Housing Benefit|

6. At Our Offices|

DEAL WITH RENT ARREARS

7. I am struggling with my money, rent or debt. How do I get help?|

1. At the Post Office or any other rent shop that displays a PayPoint sign (back to the top)|

Take your AllPay card (which Connect will order for you) and cash or cheque to a Post Office - they do the rest. Make sure you receive a receipt and keep it in a safe place. Receipts are the only proof you have of the rent payments that you have made. If you would like an AllPay card, phone our Housing Liaison Officers on 0300 5000 600.

2. Through your bank (back to the top)|

A "Standing Order" tells your bank to pay the rent from your bank account. If the rent increases, you will have to change the Standing Order to the new amount. It doesn't happen automatically.
Standing Orders are payable on an agreed date each month. You must tell us if you intend to cancel your Standing Order. We must write to you about any changes.

“Direct Debit” is another rent payment method which allows you to pay us straight from your bank account. If your rent increases, we will notify your bank. You do not have to do anything. You must tell us if you intend to cancel your Direct Debit. We must write to you about any changes.

Please call the Housing Services Team on Housing Liaison Officers on 0300 5000 600 and they can set up a direct debit for you over the phone, providing you have your bank account details, or provide you with the account details to set up a standing order with your bank.

We only recommend that you pay by Direct Debit if you are always sure that you have sufficient money in your account when the payment is due – if you don’t, your bank may charge you.

3. Over the internet or phone (back to the top)|

If you have a debit or credit card, you can pay your rent over the internet or over the phone. You need your debit or credit card and your Allpay payment card. If you do not have an Allpay card phone our Housing Liaison Officers on 0300 5000 600.

To pay by phone, call 0844 557 8321. You will hear instructions to guide you through the process. You will be asked the following:

Your Allpay payment card number
Your debit/credit card number
The expiry date
The issue number (for Switch cards)
The amount you want to pay

Once the transaction is authorised you will be given an authorisation code. Keep this code safe as it is proof of payment (like a receipt).

Click here to pay over the internet| then follow the instructions.

If you would like more details phone our Housing Services Liaison Officers on 0300 5000 600 or click here to sign up for My Account|.

We only recommend paying by credit card if you can clear the outstanding balance on your card within one month.

4. By post (back to the top)|

You can send a cheque or postal order made out to "Connect Housing Association Limited" and post it to 205 Roundhay Road, LS8 4HS. Put your name and address on the back of the cheque or postal order and sign the cheque. Please don't post-date your cheques, as we won't be able to bank these until the date on the cheque.

Please don't send cash through the post.

5. Through Housing Benefit (back to the top)|

You may be entitled to claim Housing Benefit to pay some or all of your rent.

We can help explain Housing Benefit to you, help complete claim forms and, in Leeds, verify the information you supply to support your claim to speed up the processing and save you the inconvenience of having to take your documents to a Housing Benefit office or One Stop Shop.

If all or part of your rent is covered by Housing Benefit you can arrange for it to be paid directly to Connect Housing Association.You should sign the declaration on the back of the Housing Benefit form, asking them to pay your Housing Benefit directly to us. It is one less thing to worry about.

If Housing Benefit only pays some of your rent, you will need to pay the rest using one of the methods outlined in this section.

If your circumstances change, you must tell the Housing Benefit Office and us immediately—changes may affect your housing benefit. By law, we must tell the Housing Benefit Office if we are aware of any change to your circumstances that affects your housing benefit. Overpayments of Housing Benefit may be deducted from your future benefit payments which means you may build up rent arrears and put your tenancy at risk.

6. At our Offices (back to the top)|

We will accept cash, cheques or credit cards in our offices. You will be seen by one of our duty officers in a queuing system.

7. I am struggling with my money, rent or debt. How do I get help? (back to the top)|

Phone Us. Give us a ring on 0300 5000 600 and speak to one of our Housing Liaison Officers, who can:

offer advice on how to claim Housing Benefit;
set up repayment agreements with you;
refer you to our specialist team of support workers who can offer basic debt advice and help you to claim benefits;
ask your rent accounting officer to call you or visit you at home.

Or call into the office. We can help you fill in Housing Benefit forms and discuss your rent account with you. If you want to see a Rent Accounting Officer or a Housing Support Worker, please ring beforehand and make an appointment.

Connect Residents Federation

Copyright © Connect Housing 2012 | Privacy statement | Terms and Conditions
Connect Housing Association Limited is a charitable housing association
registered with the Tenant Services Authority. Reg No L2285. VAT Reg No 664 8458 90.

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Pay My Rent and Deal with Rent Arrears