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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

New partnership provides out-of-hours repairs services to tenants

AXA Partners and property repairs reporting service Fixflo have joined forces to offer a new emergency and out-of-hours repairs service to tenants across the UK.

With AXA Partners acting as the emergency out-of-hours contact centre for tenants using Fixflo, offering a call-back service within 60 minutes of reporting an issue, tenants living in privately rented accommodation can instantly report the need for a repair in their homes, rather than wait until normal working hours.

The service, designed to remove the stress and financial burden of out-of-hours repairs for both tenants and landlords, is initially being offered by Manchester-based Thornley Groves lettings agents, but will be rolled out on a wider regional and national scale later this year.

Data from Fixflo shows that 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.

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.” 

According to Fixflo, 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.

Watkin added: “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.”

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Poll: Do you welcome the launch of a new emergency and out-of-hours repairs service?

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    Oh dear! Join the real world! Owner occupiers have to source their own repairers AND pay for them, no matter when problems occur. In my experience, tenants often ignore warning signs or problems that could be nipped in the bud and repaired economically during normal working hours. They wait until it needs dealt with urgently. This service will only encourage this behaviour. Instead tenants need to learn responsibility if they ever hope to buy and maintain their own home.

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