Services charges

Routine service charges  
If you are a 125-year leaseholder, the council is obliged to provide you with certain routine services and to charge you for those services.

These services are:

Emergency response service

The council operates an emergency service providing 24-hour cover by housing patrollers. It is operated by the housing control unit at Garratt Lane and can be contacted on: 020 8871 7490.

The service covers all managing agents (with the exception of JJS Pinnacle) and most management originations (RMOs). If you call the service and your call is not answered immediately, please do not hang up.  Your call will be held in a telephone queuing system and will be answered as soon as possible. 

For estates in the Battersea area managed by JJS Pinnacle, please contact: 020 8333 6991.

Block repairs  
These are the cost of day to day repairs and the council, is not responsible for repairs and maintenance inside your flat, although it will carry out emergency work to prevent the problem causing either a nuisance to other people, or damage to the structure of the block.  You may be charged for any work carried out by the council inside you flat.  If there is a charge this will be billed separately form your service charges and will include VAT and administration charges.  

Building insurance
To secure competitive rates and cover, and to  keep costs down, the council tests the insurance market at regular intervals.

The council (as freeholder and landlord) insures the building against loss or damage caused by a range of perils as usually specified in a comprehensive buildings policy insurance.

The sum insured (or reinstatement value) relates to the cost of reinstating or rebuilding the property, not the current market value.  It includes the common parts of the structure, such as the foundations, staircases and roofs, and is reviewed annually based on the council held information about the building.  Therefore, you must tell the council about any works you intend to carry out to your property which may materially add to the sum insured (the cost of repairing or rebuilding the property if it were damaged or destroyed).  Your proportion of the sum insured is shown in the Summary of Costs that you receive each year.  If you require advice on the cover provided or need to make a building insurance claim in relation to your home, you can request a claim form by telephoning 020 8871 6414 or 020 8871 6413 during office hours , or by fax on 020 8871 8788 or by email to: insurancegroup@wandsworth.gov.uk.

It is a policy condition that claims are submitted as soon as possible. Please note that unless the loss or damage has arisen as a result of one of the perils covered by the policy, it is unlikely that it will be covered. Before requested a claim form, please check the perils covered as shown in the Statement of Cover.

If you require an Insurance Schedule, which may be requested from time to time by your mortgage lender, please contact the Property Accounts Section on 020 8871 6590 or fax: 020 8871 8668.

The council's insurance policy does not cover the contents in your home.  You are strongly advised to arrange a separate insurance policy to cover your own contents.