More than 8,000 issues were reported in properties in Manchester in the last 12 months, with over half classed as emergencies. Almost 3,000 of these problems occurred out-of-hours, leaving many tenants waiting for whole weekends before a repair could be made.
Now, a new partnership between AXA Partners and property repairs reporting service Fixflo means that tenants living in privately rented accommodation no longer have to wait until normal working hours begin before they can report the need for a repair in their homes.
Water leaks were the most common repair reported over the last year at an average cost of £164. Boiler heating issues were the second most likely problem for tenants costing £245 on average.
The service, which is being offered to tenants by leading estate agent and letting agents Thornley Groves, is designed to take away the stress and financial burden of out-of-hours repairs for both tenants and landlords.
Jason Watkin, CEO at Thornley Groves, said: “The lettings industry has faced a real challenge in overcoming the lack of options that tenants have when trying to report an emergency repair in their home outside of normal business hours. From 5pm daily and over weekends, they are left to source their own repair services, which can often be quite distressing for the tenant when it comes to finding a reputable repairs service and deciding who is responsible for paying for it. We wanted to change that.
By working with Fixflo and AXA Partners, our tenants can easily report an issue via Fixflo’s online dashboard 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service gives them peace of mind that their problems will be fixed regardless of the time of day, and also means that both they and their landlords can rest assured that repairs will be carried out promptly by a trusted, AXA-vetted contractor.”
Milan Sud, Head of Innovation at AXA Partners UK & Ireland, commented: “It’s unreasonable for tenants to have to manage on their own if their boiler breaks or they have a leak in their home just because it’s after business hours – and that’s why we’re thrilled to be working with Thornley Groves, because they want to put tenants first too.
We are constantly looking for new ways to develop and push the insurance industry forward. Moving away from being a payer of insurance to a partner of solutions-based services we are putting the customer – or in this case tenant - at the heart of what we do, so that they can rent safe in the knowledge that they have access to an on-demand service that guarantees an initial call back within an hour of the repair being reported.
We’re looking forward to extending the service to more letting agents across the country so that thousands of other renters benefit too.”
