Email advice FAQ

•    your question relates to housing in Northern Ireland,
•    your question isn’t too complex to be dealt with in this way, and
•    you haven’t emailed us before with the same issue.

2. Why do you need all this information?

You may have noticed that some e-advice form fields have an asterix (*) next to them. This indicates that the field is mandatory, i.e. that you are required to put in some information in order to submit the form.

This enables us to gather some specific information about you that will help us assess your situation better and ensure that we give you the right advice.

You can find out more about our reasoning behind the e-advice form on the ‘about the questions’ page.

3. What happens when I send you my query?

When you press the submit button, your query will be sent to our E-Advice team and a ‘Thank you’ page will display in your browser.

One of our advisers will aim to respond to you within 3 working days, although in times of high demand this period may be extended.

4. How do I know you’ve received my query?

Shortly after submitting the form, you should receive an auto-confirmation email from us. We will send this to the email address that you’ve specified on the form.

This email will remind you of our response time and will include a copy of the question you have asked us to answer.

Please note that this is an automated email and replies made to it will not be monitored.

5. Why can’t I get more than one advice email from you?

Email advice service is intended as a one-off service; we will aim to send you as much information as possible that is relevant to your query in our initial contact with you.

If you require any further information, please phone our helpline on 028 9024 5640 and quote your email reference number. We will not be able to engage with you via email on an ongoing basis.

6. Does it matter why kind of housing problem I have?

Remember that your query has to be related to Northern Ireland. We cannot advise on housing problems outside Northern Ireland.

We also can’t advise on all housing issues. Even though our website offers information on a wide range of housing related topics, our core areas of advice work are:

•    homelessness,
•    private renting,
•    social tenancies, and
•    affordability issues.

If you send us a query that is outside our core area of work, we will try to advise you of a more appropriate agency.

7. Could you take my case on?

Housing Rights Service will not be able to take on every case, although we will try to answer to all e-advice requests.

We use a Case selection policy to determine which cases we can take on.

8. Does it matter if I’m living outside Northern Ireland?

It may matter, since housing laws and regulations vary across the United Kingdom.

If you have a question about housing in Northern Ireland, but you’re simply living elsewhere at the moment, we will try to answer it.

However, we will not be able to reply to queries about housing in England, Scotland or Wales – please contact Shelter for support if you live in these areas.

9. Will my problem be solved after I get your response?

Not necessarily. Remember, email advice is suitable for general advice only. If you have a question about a more complex housing matter, it may be more appropriate to speak to an adviser directly.

We will, however, try to give you as much information as possible about your options and thus enable you to gain more understanding and control over your housing situation.

10. I’m worried about my privacy. Will my email remain confidential?

Information you give us about your situation will be kept strictly confidential to Housing Rights Service. We do not disclose your information to subsidiaries or other organisations, except in the situations dictated by law or our child protection policy.

You can read our confidentiality statement for more information.

11. How long will I have to wait before I get a response?

You should receive a response from us within 3 working days, although in times of high demand this period may be extended.

12. I need advice urgently. Can you send me a response right away?

Our average response time is 3 working days - we cannot guarantee that you will receive a response right away. If you need advice urgently, it may be more appropriate to call our helpline on 028 9024 5640.

13. I didn’t get your reply even though 3 days have passed.

Please check your spam/junk folder to see if our response got caught by your email system. It is possible that spam/junk filters interpret our emails as spam, although this does not happen often in practice.

In times of high demand we may extend our response time to 5 working days – if you prefer quicker access to an adviser, please call our helpline.

If more than 5 days have passed and you still haven’t received our response, please let us know by using our feedback form. Our webmaster will investigate this as soon as possible.

14. I’d like to talk through my issues with someone – is this possible?

If you have already received email advice from us, please phone our helpline on 028 9024 5640 and quote the reference number that appears in the subject line of your email.

If you haven’t sent us an e-advice request and you’d prefer to contact an adviser in person or by phone, you can do so from 9:30 to 1:30 Monday to Friday.

You can access our helpline on 028 9024 5640 or visit our office in person – we’re situated in Belfast city centre (Middleton Buildings, 4th Floor, 10-12 High Street, Belfast BT1 2BA).

15. Is there any other way I can find out more information about my problem?

HousingadviceNI.org is an extensive resource of information on various housing issues in Northern Ireland. It has over 800 pages of articles, downloads, sample letters and other materials that may help you increase understanding of your situation.

If you’re unable to find particular information by navigating the website’s menu, you may want to try to use our search function or view the entire content titles from our sitemap.

16. I’m not happy with this service. Where can I leave my feedback?

If you’re not happy with our e-advice service, please send us your comments via our feedback form.

Alternatively, you can let us know what you think of this service by completing our user survey – a link to the survey will automatically be sent to your email address approximately a week after the original response.

We are constantly striving to improve our services and will value any feedback you are willing to share with us.