Advice about making a complaint
A complaint is usually about poor service. It could be about something we have failed to do or something that’s gone wrong. For example, a repair not completed to an acceptable standard or a decision we have taken that isn’t in line with our policies and procedures.
If you aren’t satisfied with our service let us know as soon as you can and we will make every effort to put it right. By acting quickly, we may be able to resolve it without going through the formal complaints procedure. If that’s not possible and you do want to make a formal complaint, you can do it in a number of ways.
To help us resolve your problem, let us know as much as you can about what has happened, with names of the people you have spoken to or had correspondence with.
Who can make a complaint?
Anyone who has a tenant/landlord relationship with us – this includes people with a tenancy, lease, service agreement, licence. If you live in a property, want to make a complaint but don’t have one of these relationships with us we would need the written permission of the person who does have the relationship before we start corresponding with you.
If you hold the relationship but want someone else to complain on your behalf, for example, a friend or relative, we will need your signed permission to correspond with your representative.
If you are a homeowner or private tenant you can also make a complaint to us if you think that we are responsible.
Questions and answers
A service request is a request by you for us to take action to put something right. Service requests are not complaints, but we record them, monitor, and review them for learning and improvements. If we consider the issue raised to be a service request, we will ask the relevant team to reply to you directly.
If you express dissatisfaction with our handling of a service request, we will raise a complaint, even where the service request is ongoing.
A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions, or lack of action by the organisation, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting an individual or group of individuals. You do not have to use the word complaint for it to be treated as such.
Expressions of dissatisfaction made through a survey are not defined as a complaint, where possible the survey should make you aware of how to complain should you wish.
In some circumstances we will not be able to consider your complaint. These are set out in the customer feedback procedure in depth, but for example if:
- your complaint exceeds the time limit
- you do not meet the requirements of who can complain
- you have previously withdrawn your complaint
- you have already started legal action about the matter
- you have a statutory right of appeal
- you can appeal a decision through our internal review process
We aim to make it as easy as possible for you to complain. You can make your complaint verbally, in writing, by email or using the online complaint form.
You can raise your complaint in any way which suits you best and with any member of staff. All housing staff have been trained on the complaints process and will be able to pass details of your complaint to the appropriate team.
A complaint can be made by a representative if the person affected is a child, is unable to make the complaint themselves, or has given consent for them to make the complaint on their behalf.
We will consider our duties under the Equality Act 2010 and anticipate the needs and reasonable adjustments you may need to access the complaints process. Examples of reasonable adjustments we can make are the following:
- provide information in appropriate alternative formats (e.g. large print, coloured paper, Braille etc.)
- communicate through a representative with consent
- allow more time than we would usually for someone to provide information we need (where it is lawful to do so)
- provide additional support such as a sign language interpreter or translator
- use plain language
Once we've received your complaint, we will acknowledge this within 5 working days. We have 2 complaint stages, and we will acknowledge your complaint at both stages. The acknowledgement will set out:
- your case reference number
- the complaint stage
- our understanding and definition of your complaint
- the remedy you are seeking if known
- information on the complaints process
- the response expected date and information on extensions
- reasonable adjustments support available
- advocacy services available
We have a two-stage complaints process. Your complaint will be acknowledged at both stages of the process.
Your complaint at stage 1 will be referred to a manager or person of appropriate seniority within the service area complained about. This person would not have had significant involvement with the issues complained about.
You will receive a response to your complaint within 10 working days. If an extension is required, you will be notified of this and provided additional information including the revised response date and details of the relevant ombudsman who you can contact for advice.
If you are unhappy with your stage 1 response you can request to escalate your complaint to stage 2. This will be responded to by the service director.
A stage 2 complaint will be responded to within 20 working days. As with stage 1, if an extension is required you will be notified of this and provided information including the revised response date and details of the relevant ombudsman.
If you are unhappy with your stage 2 response, you can contact the relevant ombudsman; all details will be provided in your stage 2 response.
We endeavour to promote a positive complaint handling culture by following our Service Improvement Action Plan. We encourage staff to use complaints as a source of intelligence to identify issues and introduce positive changes in service delivery.
Within each complaint response the manager is responsible for looking beyond the circumstances of the individual complaint to identify any learnings. Within the complaint response any service improvements or actions will be explained to you.
These actions are recorded and reviewed by our Customer Relations team through to implementation.
We report on lessons learnt through:
- regular updates on our website, our annual report and in our Housing Matters email which is sent to all residents
- internal staff publications
- staff meetings
- quarterly review meetings with heads of service
- reports to Executive