Case Studies

Midlands based Housing Association

About the Client

Our client, a Midlands based Housing association, work tirelessly to provide homes and services to assist people to live independently throughout the region. The Association is dedicated to providing affordable housing along with improving both health and wellbeing. The Association works closely with Central Mailing Services for all its written communication with its tenants ranging from newsletters and community updates to rent change letters and statements.

Details of the Work

As Direct Debit is the preferred payment method used by the Association to collect rent from its tenants, letters communicating rent details, including amount due for payment and date of collection are sent out regularly throughout the year. Typically, between 10,000 and 30,000 items mail at any one time and the letters can be single or double sided whilst also being in full colour and consisting of multiple sheets that require collating and matching together. The mailing content is deemed particularly sensitive due to containing financial information in regards to rent arrears and amounts paid by each property meaning there must be no risk of incorrect statements or letters going to the wrong household.

The Solution from CMS

Providing Housing Associations with postal rent statements, letters and notifications has been a core part of Central Mailing’s work for many years. Our commitment to continued investment in the business ensures that we have both the technology and the mailing equipment to process Housing Association mailings quickly and cost effectively. The client supplies pre-merged PDF files and using our bespoke software, our tool identifies individual documents and codes them as single or double sided and flags any records containing multiple documents for the same household. Once the relevant sections have been isolated and prepared, we are able to print all the documents in full colour using our suite of Xerox colour presses.

Our dedicated programme codes all printed documents to ensure that the cameras fitted to the enclosing machines are able to read the statements correctly. This ensures that the camera matching and integrity software can process the work as it is enclosed at high speed. The multi-page statements are carefully matched using the camera technology and any additional generic inserts, such as FAQ sheets or T&Cs are also enclosed at the same time.

Once the envelopes have been enclosed and sealed, the reports from the cameras are downloaded and these logs sent to the Housing association. This level of automation and detail provides the client with the peace of mind that every statement has been sent out correctly and on time. Most Housing Associations prefer to carry out their own data merging, so CMS provide them with a fast, secure and effective way to get their statements and notifications in the post.

The result

The Housing Association have been extremely impressed with the service provided by Central Mailing Services. We have become an integral part of their business and can react quickly when urgent updates need to be sent.