Defence Infrastructure Organisation
Overview
The provision of good quality homes for Service personnel and their families is an important priority for the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) manages around 49,000 homes in the UK on behalf of the MOD and is also responsible for planning for future requirements and targeted improvement programmes.
On 1 April 2022 the new Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) Accommodation contracts replaced the National Housing Prime (NHP) contract. These new contracts fulfil the Defence requirement for the delivery of effective and responsive accommodation services for Service personnel and their families.
On behalf of DIO, Pinnacle Group Ltd manage the National Accommodation Management Services (NAMS) contract in the UK. Their National Service Centre is the single point of contact for requests from families living in Service Family Accommodation (SFA) including raising repairs and maintenance issues, the allocations of homes and conducting move-in and move-out appointments. Contact details can be found on the Pinnacle Service Families website.
Four Regional Accommodation Maintenance Services (RAMS) contracts provide statutory and mandatory checks, repair and maintenance services and the preparation of allocated homes for Service families. Amey Community Ltd manage the Northern and Central regions and VIVO cover the South East and South West.
The Customer Service Charter
is DIOs commitment to Service personnel and their families to provide decent living standards and excellent customer service. We are committed to improving the condition and standard of the Service Family Accommodation (SFA) estate; sustaining improved levels of maintenance and repair performance; and enhancing customer service.Latest news for SFA residents
Update 13 December
Update for families on Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) Accommodation contracts performance
The level of service many families have experienced so far under the new Accommodation contracts is not what they expect or deserve. DIO and its suppliers Pinnacle, VIVO and Amey are all committed to improving performance for families.
DIO has consistently challenged performance, and a huge amount of work has been undertaken to identify the causes and make the improvements needed.
In September DIO directed each of its suppliers to put in place Rectification Plans owned at Board level - to achieve sustained improvements in contract performance. The key areas of service improvement targeted through the plans are:
Preparation of homes for Move-In
The pass rate for preparation of homes for move-in has improved since July and August but we still have some way to go to meet the contracted Acceptable Level of Performance of 95%. Considerable effort is being made to hit, sustain and then exceed that level.
Repair and maintenance response times
VIVO and Amey have increased staff numbers and taken on additional sub-contractors in order to schedule and plan tasks, complete repairs more quickly, reduce the repairs backlog and achieve more repairs on the first visit to homes.
Amey has increased its internal resource by 15 staff and its sub-contractor capacity by 60%. VIVO has increased its resource by an additional 88 staff and taken on seven additional subcontractors. This has resulted in some reduction in average response times, but these are not yet at acceptable levels and a considerable backlog remains to be cleared.
VIVO and Amey are running community engagement events through their regions. At these events VIVO or Amey managers and operatives will discuss any concerns with families, complete any repairs that they can on the day, and work with supply partners to complete any outstanding gas safety inspections. If the supplier is unable to complete a repair on the day, it will book an appointment for a convenient time. These events are communicated to families via local social media channels, WhatsApp groups, emails, posters and leaflets, so please look out for upcoming events.
Complaints
Pinnacle is significantly increasing staffing of the National Service Centres Customer Solutions team, which deals with complaints and compensation, from 14 to 56 staff. A dedicated Customer Service Manager has also been appointed to resolve complex or urgent issues and complaints. Most complaints relate to outstanding repairs and maintenance tasks, and Amey and VIVO are working to resolve outstanding tasks that require completion in order to speed up the resolution of complaints for families. When VIVO complete a repair in a home relating to a complaint, they are also using that opportunity to complete any other works that the family raise during the visit.
The backlog of complaints has now begun to reduce, but efforts will continue to drive numbers of open complaints down and fixing this process is an absolute priority.
Communications
Pinnacle has revised the process for families to be able to contact it to ensure issues can be addressed far more quickly. Instead of emailing hello@pinnacleservicefamilies.co.uk families can now go directly to the department they need to contact:
For applications, allocations and requests: HomeServices@pinnacleservicefamilies.co.uk
To send in any medical/OT reports for the case managers to review: HomeServicesConfidential@pinnacleservicefamilies.co.uk
To discuss retention enquiries or to send in supporting evidence for retentions: Retentions@pinnacleservicefamilies.co.uk
For queries relating to existing repairs or to raise a new repair, use Pinnacles Repairs form or contact Repairs@pinnacleservicefamilies.co.uk
To discuss or book statutory gas or electrical inspections: ComplianceSupport@pinnacleservicefamilies.co.uk
To raise or discuss complaints, compliments or compensation: CustomerSolutions@pinnacleservicefamilies.co.uk
Compensation
Pinnacle has created a dedicated compensation handling team to help speed up the processing of claims. This has already resulted in a significant reduction in time it is taking compensation requests to be responded to. Pinnacle has also introduced local drop-in surgeries. There remains a delay in some families receiving their compensation, but this is being addressed through the increased resource.
National Service Centre call wait times
Families are having to wait too long on the phone to speak to a customer service advisor. Pinnacle is increasing resource in the NSC and this is already having a positive impact on call wait times with a steady reduction in the last two weeks, and this trend is cont