Frequently Asked Questions

If you rent your house, Grŵp Cynefin will not be insuring the contents of your home.

Contents insurance is designed to help protect your possessions. No matter how careful you are, there’s always a risk that your belongings could be broken, damaged or stolen.

Grŵp Cynefin has partnered with Thistle Tenant Risks, and Great Lakes Insurance UK Ltd who provide the ‘My Home Contents Insurance’ Scheme, a Tenants Contents Insurance policy designed for tenants living in social housing.

The My Home Contents Insurance Scheme can offer you insurance for the contents of your home including cover for items such as furniture, carpets, curtains, clothes, bedding, electrical items, jewellery, pictures and ornaments.

How can I find out more?

• Ask your housing officer for an information pack.
• Call Thistle Tenant Risks on 0345 450 7288
• Or you can visit the thistlemyhome.co.uk website for more information or to request that they call you back.

Limits and exclusions apply. A copy of the policy wording is available on request.

The National Housing Federation and Community Housing Cymru working in partnership with Thistle Insurance Services Ltd.  Thistle Insurance Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Firm Reference Number 310419.  Registered in England under No. 00338645. Registered office: Rossington’s Business Park, West Carr Road, Retford, Nottinghamshire, DN22 7SW.  Thistle Insurance Services Ltd is part of the PIB Group.

Our Data Protection Privacy Policy is online at https://www.thistleinsurance.co.uk/Privacy-Policy

It is important to protect your belongings and your Landlord suggests that you look for providers who are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Thistle Insurance Services are a company that specialises in social housing contents insurance, however there are also other providers that can be found on comparison websites like Money Supermarket or Compare the Market.

What is damp and condensation?

Dampness is caused when warm, moist air cools, or strikes a cold surface and then drops of water appear.

This often happens in bathrooms when your mirror and windows are steaming. If you do not deal with this, it can become black mold on your walls and roof.

What is causing it?

You, your family and your pets all produce moisture when breathing and sweating in your homes. Dampness is also caused when:

• having a bath or shower
• drying our clothes inside, especially on radiators
• cooking or washing up

It is important to remove any condensation from windows and walls as soon as it appears using a damp cloth.

Tips to avoid mold and damp

Here are two simple ways to reduce damp in your home:

• make sure your home is set at a constant temperature and make sure there is enough ventilation by leaving the vents in your windows open
• use extractor fans after a shower / bath or while cooking, where installed

If these steps do not improve the situation, please contact us

Contact the Cyswllt Cynefin team

We call an adult living in your home who is not a tenant or lodger, other than your partner, an independent person.

Having an independent person (maybe a friend, parent, child or other relative) can affect how much benefit you get, even if they don’t contribute to the cost of accommodation.

It can also affect the housing benefit you get if you are the independent person.

The Cynefin Welfare Team or Citizens Advice Bureau can give you further advice on this issue. To search for details of your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau, including those that can give advice by email, click here.

Cyngor ar Bopeth

Whatever the reason you want to move – a house that is too big or too small, medical reasons, wanting to move to another area or marriage or relationship breakdown – we can help. Here are some options:

– Swap with another tenant – You can swap your house with another tenant of Grŵp Cynefin, another housing association or a local Council as long as the house is right for you.

Grŵp Cynefin is a member of Homeswapper and you can register by visiting their website.

Homeswapper

Please note that you must obtain the Group’s written consent before exchanging with any other tenant, and we reserve the right not to allow an exchange if you have broken any terms (eg rent arrears, damage to property etc) or if we have thinks the house you want to move to is not for you.

Moving to another house

If you want to move to another Grŵp Cynefin house, you can ask to go on the transfer list. There are some exceptions, but we will discuss those with you.

A service charge is a charge for community services around your home that everyone benefits from – eg keeping a community garden tidy, cleaning stairs or steps, communal furniture, burglar alarm, CCTV and so on.

An amount of £ 0.00 on your statement indicates that either a specific service is not provided for your property, or that there are no costs involved.

How is the service charge worked out?

We look at the average costs for the last three years and then use these to work out how much service charge is required.

There is further information below on what could be included in your service charge but if you would like more information, please contact us.

Cyswllt Cynefin

Cuckooing is when a drug dealer makes friends with a vulnerable person, and takes over their house to deal drugs.

The victims can be anyone in our community – they can be as young as 10 or as old as 90 – criminal gangs can exploit vulnerability in all its forms.

Adults with physical or mental disabilities, or addicts, may also suffer from ‘cuckooing’ offense where a gang occupies their home.

What should I do?

If you suspect that such a crime is occurring in the home of someone you know you should:

– pick up the phone and call North Wales Police on 101,

– if a crime is occurring, call 999 straight away

– or you can call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

More information on the Crimestoppers Drug Lines campaign can be found on their webiste:

Crimestoppers