Capita Banking Error Sees Rent Payments Fail

Apr 27, 2015

Around 1800 rent payments wroth £385,000 to Barnet Homes, a housing association owned by the Borough Council, have failed after a banking error.

Business process outsourcing firm Capita, which Barnet Council hired to manage its back office, is responsible for mistakenly cancelling direct debits to Barnet Homes while moving from a manual system to online.

“Barnet homes apologise for any inconvenience that the direct debit error with rents payments this month might have caused some customers,” an official statement from the housing provider claimed.

“We have also made sure we’ve communicated the situation to our customers clearly, including offering alternative payment coupons,” it added.

Although the issue that occurred earlier this month has now been resolved, the company has received criticism for the problems caused.

“This is now the third time that Capita has messed up something that is a completely basic process and it is unacceptable,” claimed leader of the Barnet Labour Group Councillor Alison Moore.

“We’ve seen incorrect pension data being sent out to council pensioners, claw-back of overpayments to school staff and now this.

“People are rapidly losing confidence in Capita’s ability to get even the most basic things right,” she added.

“Capita Still Delivering Savings”

However Conservative Barnet Council leader Councillor Richard Cornelius was slightly more forgiving towards the firm.

“The reality is that issues like this do crop up now and again, whoever provides the service. We once had something similar with council tax when the service was in house,” Cornelius claimed.

“The important thing is that the issue was identified and has been resolved. Capita is saving the taxpayer £1m each and every month,” he added.

Comments

Barnet homes lack in sorting out drug & Alcohol issues in the properties, My wife & I are living a nightmare & this has been going on now to 5 years now. My wife & I have had three drug users live in our block of flats one was evicted back in Jan 2012, but then in July 2012 they moved another one in she's been here ever since then in Feb 2014 they moved another one here, so we have two druggies in our block which is four flats, the old boy down stairs wouldn't say boo to a goose but these two women are a joke they got together & made up stories about me, I served barnet homes an early notification letter due to defects in our home which have gone on since 2008 & they haven't fixed those problems then13 days later they served me with a notice of procession to kick us out of our home jokers. barnet homes have moved a black guy in across the way he's stolen a disabled neighbours car caused damage to it, so the owner has had to pay for those damages herself, this guys also threatened another elderly neighbour with an imitation shotgun of all things so we've had SO19 the firearms unit from the Met police,yet the scum bag is still living here. In all barnet homes have moved 6 drug users into our street since 2010 so we have the dealers coming here on a daily bases, I've given the police the REG numbers but these dealers are still coming here, the police have done nothing to support us, most of the neighbours after shotgun incident most have hide away & are to scared to come forward. so I'm fighting a losing battle here now, & to cap all this barnet home put an injunction on me so I cannot record or take photos for evidence it has been a nightmare & my wife has just given birth to our little girl 5 weeks ago so we have to walk down stairs & out of our block of flats breathing in the drug use, even our baby ....
kind regards
Neil

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Neil Reed

28/09/2015 19:43