Post Office Caught Out by Rent Payment Switch?

Tenants of social housing were told they would no longer be able to pay their rent at post offices before the Infrastructure Department confirmed the switch to postal chiefs.

A new housing management system, Civica, has been introduced which means that from the start of April payments can’t be made in the network of sub-post offices.

In the House of Keys, Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Jason Moorhouse asked Post Office chairman Chris Thomas what talks had taken place before the change.

Mr Thomas said his officers met Infrastructure Department representatives on December 20 when the DoI advised ‘it was planning to withdraw the facility for its tenants to be able to make social housing payments through the Post Office’s retail network from the beginning of April 2022’.

He added: ‘I understand a telephone discussion between the CEO of the Post Office and the interim CEO of the department took place on the week commencing February 7 in relation to this matter, just after the department had written to its tenants to advise them of the change.’

Mr Thomas said the Post Office was always happy to supply agency services for the government.

He told Mr Moorhouse: ‘I have to be honest, the Post Office has not had any contact about Civica and it was I who brought it to the Post Office’s attention when this question was put on the order paper.’

He added that the Post Office told the DoI in December that it was preparing a report for the Council of Ministers on the future of its retail network and services provided.

‘The Post Office has always suggested and continues to suggest that a decision on the future of the social housing payments should be incorporated into the wider review of community hubs, of government access and of access to government services,’ he said.

Mr Thomas said he hoped CoMin would soon ‘make decisions in respect of the Post Office’s retail network and the provision of government services through it’.  

Earlier in the sitting, Mr Moorhouse questioned Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall about the change.

‘Civica does allow cash payments, which can be made at the Housing counter at Markwell  House (Douglas) at the moment,’ the minister said.

‘Civica does not have the ability to produce the rent cards, though, and therefore the (housing) division cannot produce the rent cards as part of the rent paying process as from  April 2022.’

Mr Crookall said the Civica system had been active at the DoI since July. He said the new system would create ‘huge savings’ for the DoI because it could manage all its housing division processes in one place.

Mr Moorhouse asked why the system had not been incorporated into the post office network.

The minister admitted: ‘I am not sure why that did not happen but we are still working on the system and it may well be that we can use this in other government hubs or with other local authorities as and when we have had those conversations, as we are talking to the local authorities from now.’