Paying Your Rent

Rent is due each Monday, in advance, although you can pay monthly in advance if this is more convenient. It is a condition of your tenancy that you pay your rent regularly and on time.

You have a variety of options for paying your rent:

Rent Payment Card

When you start your tenancy, you will be sent a rent payment card. You can use this at post offices, PayPoint and PAYzone outlets. Details of shops that accept the payment card will be sent to you with your card, or you can also find the nearest payment outlets by typing your postcode into the search option on the PayPoint or PayZone web sites.

Housing Benefit

If you are on a low income you may be able to pay your rent through Housing Benefit.

To find out if you may be eligible, please use our Housing Benefit Calculator to work out your entitlement. You should also contact your local Council immediately and advise the Income Management Team at Colne Housing on 01206 244700.

Housing Benefit Offices:
Colchester: 01206 282300
Chelmsford: 01245 606879
Tendring: 01255 686811
Maldon: 01621 854477
Braintree: 01376 557852
Babergh: 01473 826633

You can pay your rent automatically each month by direct debit from your bank account. Just download and complete a Direct Debit Form and return to us. Paying by direct debit makes it cheaper and simpler for the Society to administer, which benefits everyone in our community.

Online

Pay your rent online, 24 hours a day, through allpay.net, our preferred Internet payment facility.

In Person

If you wish, you can pay your rent over the counter at our office during regular office hours. Please bring your rent payment card with you.

By Post

You may also choose to send a cheque by post for your rent. Please make sure you put your address on the back of the cheque and allow enough time for your cheque to reach our office by the due date.

If you ask us for details of your account over the phone, we will ask you for some form of identification, e.g. date of birth, postcode etc. Please do not be offended by this; we just want to be sure the right person is getting this information.

View Your Rent Account Online

You can also view your rent account online through My Tenancy (http://www.mytenancy.co.uk/), which will help you keep up to date with any payments due. This is a secure online system and requires a username and password. To set this up, please contact the Customer Services Team on 01206 244700.

Rent Arrears

If you run into any difficulties paying your rent, contact us immediately. If you are in rent arrears, there are many ways you can begin to sort out your situation:

• Talk to your Income Management Advisor
• Try and deal with any other debts
• See if you can do anything to increase your income
• Get help if you are having problems with Housing Benefit
• Visit the National Debtline web site for a free budget planner.

Talk To Our Income Management Team

Colne Housing Society employs two Income Management Advisors, who concentrate on lower level arrears. We also have an Income Management Team Leader, whose focus is on higher-level arrears, including Court Action.

Your Income Management Advisor can help you work out how much you can afford to pay back each week. It is important not to agree to pay back more that you can really afford. For independent advice, contact the Citizens Advice Bureau or Shelter.

For information on how we deal with rent arrears, including the process if we have to take you to Court, please see your Residents Handbook or contact our Income Management Team.

It does't matter how much you owe; we can help you sort it out.

To get advice on your arrears please contact:

• Income Management Team Leader - Tel No: 01206 244723
• Income Management Advisors - Tel No: 01206 244729 or 01206 244741
• rent@colnehousing.co.uk

For general queries contact our Customer Services Team on 01206 244700 or at customerservices@colnehousing.co.uk.