Indigo rent and service charge policy
This policy outlines your responsibility for paying your rent and the process we will follow if you do not pay your rent and fall into arrears.
Our commitment to you
It is your responsibility to pay your rent promptly and to keep up to date with you rent payments. We will clearly communicate with you how much you need to pay and when, as well as give you options on ways to pay. Direct Debit is our preferred payment method.
We will write to you annually to inform you of any changes to your rent and service charges. You can also access your statements at any time online at MyCKH. You can also contact us to request a statement.
Indigo has a dedicated Incomes Adviser, who can be contacted during office hours on 01733 385000. You can also speak to the onsite team during office hours. We are here to help and support you if you are finding it difficult to pay your rent, but we need you to speak to us about this at the earliest possible time.
Early intervention and prevention
We aim to keep all residents at Indigo out of rent arrears. To ensure the rent is affordable to you we will conduct credit checks and an affordability assessment to ensure the rent at Indigo is affordable to you, before you sign your tenancy.
When you view your home for the first time we will explain our 'rent first' culture, how you can pay your rent and the consequences of not paying. We will also support you to make or update a housing benefit or Universal Credit claim or offer the appropriate advice about how to manage your existing claim.
You will be required to pay a deposit the equivalent of 5 weeks rent, to be held in a rent deposit scheme, as well as a minimum of 1 months' rent in advance upon sign-up. You are also expected to set up a Direct Debit on sign-up to pay your future charges.
You can access your rent and account statements at any time, online through MyCKH. We will support you to register your account at sign up. Statements will also be issued upon request and at certain touch points during the arrears escalation process. We can supply statements in other languages or using other accessible methods if required.
We take prompt action as soon as arrears happen, to speak to residents who have fallen into arrears, ascertain the cause of the arrears and seek a way forward to support you to clear arrears and keep you account in credit.
Income management and debt recovery process
We will monitor all rent accounts on a weekly basis and trigger a first contact once an account exceeds £100 in arrears or one payment is missed, requesting you contact us. You will then be asked to pay the outstanding arrears. If this is not possible, a payment plan will be discussed. You will be advised that a breach of this payment plan will result in automatic escalation. A direct debit should then be set up to ensure the account remains up to date.
If you do not make contact then the escalation process will continue.
Where an account remains in arrears, the on-site team will visit you in your home seek payment in full or set up a payment plan.
Payment plans
Where a payment plan is needed to clear arrears it dine so in the understanding that the arrears will be cleared within a maximum of three months. If a payment plan is breached it will lead to escalation to the next stage.
If it is not possible to clear the arrears with three months we will ask you to complete an income and expenditure form. Consideration will be given to extending the period only in extenuating circumstances.
Payment plans will be monitored monthly according to the payment date received. Once the new rent/service charges are made available in March, these agreements will be reviewed, and any Direct Debits amended as required. Where a Direct Debit is in payment, you will be notified of your new payment amounts via letters from Allpay.
If you miss one payment of the payment plan, a phone call, email or letter will be sent requesting you contact your Income Adviser. If contact is made, we will ask for a payment in full to clear the outstanding debt. If you are unable to make this payment, then the relevant escalation pathway will be followed.
Escalation to possession
If you refuse to engage with us, or break payment plan agreements, we will escalate your case to seeking possession of your home. This could leave you homeless. When we serve notice of possession, we do so 'without prejudice' to ensure that any possession action being taken elsewhere is not compromised.
Pre-Action protocol
We adhere to the pre-action protocol issued by the Ministry of Justice in respect of the pursuance of rent and arrears prior to taking court action.
We will refer you to the local authority Housing Needs teams and local advice and support services to ensure that other opportunities for homelessness prevention activity can be utilised.
Evictions
Evictions will be undertaken where a resident fails to comply with a court order and fails to respond to attempts to remedy this lack of compliance.
Any costs incurred in the pursuance of legal proceedings will be recharged to the resident.
We may make a homeless referral to the local authority and other agencies involved in the support of the customer prior to and after the execution of a warrant of eviction.
Rent charges will cease from the day of the eviction.
Debt Relief Orders (DRO) and Bankruptcy
If you secure a DRO or a Bankruptcy Order and include debt owed to CKH in the order, we may look to seek possession of the property based on your inability to afford the ongoing rent and where this is proportionate to the level of debt.
Former resident arrears
Where a Rent Deposit is held we will make application to the Rent Deposit Scheme for arrears to be repaid from any remaining balance prior to considering any refund to the outgoing resident. Where this is insufficient to cover the remaining debt we will pursue former tenant debt in accordance with the former tenant procedure.
Chargeable repairs
Where a charge is levied in connection with repairs it will be managed and pursued as per the chargeable repairs procedure. Where there are sufficient funds held in the rent deposit scheme we will look to make an application to reduce the debt.
Universal Credit and Housing Benefit
If are awaiting the outcome of a Housing Benefit or Universal Credit claim then arrears may accrue. In this situation alone, we will not pursue recovery through legal action. However, we have a 'no excuses' approach which means that you are expected to be fully engaged with the processes involved in resolving your claim. We will also seek appropriate payments during this process.
We will consult with local authorities and the DWP to ensure that all opportunities for intervention and support of residents is offered.
Applications for Alternative Payment Arrangements and Direct Payments will only be made where this is appropriate and in line with the guidance issued by Universal Credit.
Income Management Team will assist residents to make claims for Discretionary Housing Payments where this will assist in the reduction of debt on the account, and in line with the pre-action protocol.
Credits and refunds
We will only issue a refund at your request; you can access their account balance via MYCKH or by contacting the office and requesting an account statement.
Where the true credit balance is over £1,000, we will proactively contact you to assess if you require a refund.
We encourage those who have a credit balance to leave the equivalent to 1 payment on their account and you will be advised you will need to ensure that you are still paying rent in advance.
Fraudulent activity
Where the payment pattern is leaving a substantial credit on an account and/or there is other activity that appears inconsistent with expected behaviour (e.g. where Housing Benefit is in payment, yet the customer is also paying) we will commence an investigation into money laundering or tenancy fraud.
Further information:
Who is responsible for managing the Indigo Rent and Service Charge Policy?
This policy is written and reviewed by the Service Manager - Income Management, reporting into the Director of Operations.
Legislation and regulation
This policy is written in accordance with the following regulatory and legislative requirements:
- Regulatory Standards for Social Housing
- Pre-Action Protocol for Possession Claims by Social Landlords (Pre-Court protocol)
- Financial Standing Orders and Financial Regulations (SOFR)
Information sharing
Cross Keys Homes has an information sharing agreement with key agencies and contractors to share information in relation to the delivery of our services. Information shared must be relevant and the Data Protection Procedure adhered to when handling data. You can find more information about how we manage your data in our Transparency and Privacy Policy.
Monitoring and review
The Indigo Rent and Service Charge Policy was written and approved in March 2026 and will be reviewed every year - next review March 2027.