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DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE EFFICIENTLY.
Maximising value for taxpayers with UKAR's Customer Operations Director, Erica Swales.
“ Putting our customers
and their situations at
the heart of what we do
is extremely important
to us at UKAR.”
Erica Swales, UKAR.
Although there are welcome signs that a modest recovery in
the economy is emerging, the pace of growth remains weak.
This is continuing to put pressure on household finances and
many people are still struggling to pay their household bills.
Putting our customers and their situations at the heart of
what we do is extremely important to us at UKAR, so that is
why we are constantly reaching out to our customers who
may be in financial difficulty or are showing early signs of
struggling to balance their household budgets.
Although more than 92% of our customers are up to date with
their mortgage payments and less than 20,000 are more than
three months in arrears, our customer engagement strategy
focuses on supporting and working with those customers who
are in difficulty. We aim to find the most appropriate outcome
for their particular situation, assessing affordability and
referring customers, where appropriate, to free independent
debt advice.
To be successful we continue to strive to improve the service
and interaction with our customers. We have recently launched
our 'One Touch Call' approach within Customer Operations,
enabling our colleagues to deal with a wider range of customer
queries at the first point of contact. We have also recently
mailed nearly 19,000 customers who have an interest only
mortgage maturing in the next ten years, reminding them of
their obligations and explaining how we can help. The message
has been positively received - nearly half of all customers have
responded to share their repayment plans with us. The majority
we have spoken to have also agreed to join our interest only
review programme and will stay in regular contact in the future.
Colleagues throughout Customer Operations are encouraged
to reflect on not only their team's performance but also their
own contribution to delivering great customer service. Through
our daily 'One Huddles', every colleague is kept updated on the
latest developments that will help them serve customers better.
We actively seek out feedback from customers in relation to
their own experiences when dealing with UKAR and we use
this to inform our future approach.
By continuing to deliver appropriate customer outcomes
and supporting those customers who experience financial
difficulty, we go a long way to ensuring that UKAR achieves
our overall mission of maximising value for the taxpayer.
“ We focus on supporting
and working with
those customers who
are in difficulty.”
AUTUMN 2013 UKAR ARENA
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