Customer Account Advisor

Anchor Hanover; Bradford; Hybrid; GBP 27,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

Anchor Hanover in Bradford is seeking a proactive Customer Accounts Advisor to support residents and reduce housing debt through income recovery.

You will manage diverse arrears caseload across regions, liaising with local managers to balance resident support with effective recovery. The role emphasizes understanding circumstances, signposting services, and early intervention while minimising court action where appropriate.

Qualifications

• Experience in arrears management or income recovery
• transferable skills welcomed and relevant experience
• Excellent written and verbal communication with attention to detail

Responsibilities

• Manage arrears cases from initial contact through to legal action when required
• Prepare and manage court applications and support cases through proceedings
• Handle inbound/outbound calls, discuss payment options and set up repayment arrangements
• Build positive relationships with residents to understand circumstances and identify solutions
• Support operational colleagues with complex cases and provide policy guidance
• Assist with training and knowledge-sharing across teams
• Collaborate to identify early intervention opportunities and use available technology
• Respond to queries on Housing Benefit, UC, Local Authorities and stakeholders
• Analyse account information to identify trends and inform action plans
• Produce case summaries and provide updates to key stakeholders

Skills

Arrears management

Income recovery

Customer service

Stakeholder relations

Analytical skills

IT skills

Excel

Outlook

Word

Tools

Excel

Outlook

Word

Job description

Customer Accounts Advisor (Income Recovery)

Location: Hybrid working - based from our Bradford office

Salary: £26,900 rising to £29,721 following successful probationary period

Contract: Full Time | Fixed-Term Contract (12 months)

About the role

We're looking for a proactive and customer-focused Customer Accounts Advisor to join our Customer Accounts team. This is an opportunity to play an important role in supporting residents while helping reduce housing debt through a proactive and supportive approach to income recovery.

You’ll manage a varied caseload across multiple regions, dealing with current and former residents across rented and homeownership accounts. Working closely with local managers and operational colleagues, you’ll help residents find sustainable solutions while balancing resident support with effective income recovery.

Our team aims to challenge traditional perceptions of income recovery by focusing on understanding individual circumstances, identifying barriers, and providing support wherever possible. We assess affordability, analyse trends and behaviours, signpost residents to internal and external services, and aim to resolve issues without court action whenever appropriate.

Key responsibilities

• Manage arrears cases in line with internal policies and procedures, from initial contact through to legal action where required
• Prepare and manage court applications and support cases through legal proceedings
• Handle inbound and outbound calls, including discussing payment options, setting up sustainable repayment arrangements and processing payments
• Build positive working relationships with residents to understand their circumstances and identify suitable solutions
• Support operational colleagues with complex cases and provide guidance on policies and processes
• Assist with training and knowledge-sharing across teams where required
• Work collaboratively to identify early intervention opportunities and support residents through available technology and face‑to‑face engagement
• Respond to and manage queries relating to Housing Benefit, Universal Credit, Local Authorities and other relevant stakeholders
• Analyse account information and reports to identify trends, assess risk and determine appropriate action plans
• Produce case summaries and provide regular updates and commentary to key stakeholders, including supporting discussions around arrears performance

About you

Experience within arrears management, Income recovery, housing income, or a similar customer-focused environment would be beneficial; however, we welcome applicants with transferable skills and relevant experience.

You will also have:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with strong attention to detail
• The ability to build positive and effective relationships with residents and stakeholders
• A flexible and resilient approach with the ability to adapt in a fast‑paced and changing environment
• A genuine passion for delivering resident‑focused outcomes
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise workloads and manage competing demands
• Confidence managing a varied caseload and making informed decisions
• Good analytical skills and the ability to identify trends and assess risk
• Strong IT skills, including working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel, Outlook and Word

Anchor - a great place to work

Anchor is England's largest not-for-profit providers of care and housing for older people. Our heartfelt ambition is to transform housing and care so everyone can have a home where they love living in later life.

We're not-for-profit which means every penny we make or save is invested in the people who live with us, the places they live and the people who work here. That means a better standard of care and customer service, better wages, more investment in training and development and improved facilities.

Our values

Every one of us can make a difference to our residents and play a part in shaping homes and services around their needs.

Anchor values of being Accountable, Respectful, Courageous and Honest apply to us all, whether you manage colleagues as part of your role or not.

Displaying our values can influence those around us to do the same. We can all be leaders at Anchor and should all be driven by the same customer ethos. Our Anchor Leadership Framework helps align these values with the skills and behaviours we demonstrate.

A rewarding environment

From health and happiness to finance and your career, we’ll give you all the support you need.

Health & happiness

• Gym, fitness and wellbeing discounts
• Mental health support
• Flexible working options
• Access to online GP appointments

Finance

• Pension plan - contribute between 4% and 8% and we’ll match it or better
• Quick and easy pension transfer service
• Savings and financial advice, loans, free life assurance
• Discounts on shopping, holidays, phones, technology and more
• Free Blue Light Card

Career

• Ongoing personal and professional development programme
• Leadership Pathways online learning resources
• Career progression and promotion opportunities

To see our full range of benefits, check out our dedicated being well website Please follow the link or copy and paste https://anchorbeingwell.co.uk/ into your browser

Celebrating diversity, celebrating you

Anchor is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We aim to celebrate diversity and inclusion in all that we do, as we know that the more diverse our colleagues are, the better care and support we can give to our residents and each other.

We are proud to have an LGBT+ group for our residents, and also Disability, LGBT+ and race and ethnicity colleague networks. These work to celebrate diversity, address concerns, review policy and practice and empower their members. We also have an Inclusive Ambassador network to allow all colleagues to be part of promoting diversity and to be an ally to others.

We are a Gold Standard Inclusive Employer, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, and a signatory to the Care Leaver Covenant, HouseProud Pledge and Age Friendly Employer Pledge schemes.