However, there was a technical issue on the morning of the 11th that affected a number of call centres throughout the UK beyond Pinnacle and Defence and this, along with the large volumes of calls, contributed to some families experiencing long wait times.
We understand how frustrating this must have been and apologise for this. By the end of the day the call wait times did reduce considerably and we hope that they will continue to reduce throughout this week as we monitor this closely with Pinnacle. As well as phoning to make a request, families may wish to log a request by emailing hello@pinnacleservicefamilies.co.uk.
With regards to requests raised under the old contracts, many families have now been contacted and appointments have been raised to work through these requests.
With regards to requests raised under the old contracts, many families have now been contacted and appointments have been raised to work through these requests.
We are aware however that some families have not heard back from Amey or VIVO to book appointments for routine requests they raised through 11-25 March. This is understandably causing some families to contact the NSC to re-raise these requests.
Again, we understand this is a source of frustration especially as in our cutover comms we said that the new Regional Accommodation Maintenance Services (RAMS) contract teams would endeavour to contact families between 28 March and 8 April 2022 to arrange appointments to complete these works.
Having reassessed the situation with our suppliers and looking at the amount of routine maintenance tasks passed from NHP to FDIS, a new date of 29 April 2022 has been set for VIVO and Amey to contact families to make the appointments to meet this back log of works.
We do apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience caused to Service personnel and their families.
We understand that some families who raised complaints under the NHP contracts have not yet been contacted regarding their complaint being taken forward.
We understand that some families who raised complaints under the NHP contracts have not yet been contacted regarding their complaint being taken forward.
We would like to reassure families that Pinnacle started to call families last week to progress their complaints and by 29th April, will have contacted all families.
Finally, we would like to provide some clarity about HomeHub and why this did not go live at the start of the new contracts.
Finally, we would like to provide some clarity about HomeHub and why this did not go live at the start of the new contracts.
It was always the intention for HomeHub to go live after this transition period, as Air Commodore Savage, DIO’s Head of Accommodation, explained in the FDIS Facebook Live session on 11 January (at around 7.14 minutes).
This is standard practice for a change of this nature as it is important that we ensure the new service and traditional ways for families contacting the NSC are fully working and that any issues are resolved before we roll out the self-help options through the HomeHub.
Once we are satisfied the service is fully stable, the HomeHub will be introduced to complement existing phone and online means of contacting the NSC by enabling families to raise requests from phone, tablet or PC. Any contract transition is challenging, and our focus is on getting the basics right especially around response maintenance and anything to do with safety before we progressively roll out the new capabilities.
These contracts offer the opportunity to make a big difference to the lived experience for Service families but not everything will change overnight and some of the innovations FDIS will bring may take time for some to embed and deliver results.
These contracts offer the opportunity to make a big difference to the lived experience for Service families but not everything will change overnight and some of the innovations FDIS will bring may take time for some to embed and deliver results.
We absolutely understand the frustrations felt by some families as these new contracts settle and please do keep feeding back to Pinnacle, your welfare teams and the Families Federations about concerns you have.
These are crucial for us to understand as together with Pinnacle, VIVO and Amey we are working hard to transform housing services for you and are working hard through these early days of the new contract to minimise disruption to families as new systems and ways of working are embedded. We thank you for your patience.