We always try to resolve your complaint when you first tell us about it - at front line resolution. And if we can’t then we promise to monitor your complaint and keep in touch while we're looking into it. We learn from your feedback to improve our services.
We’ll try to resolve your complaint at "Front line Resolution", which is when you first tell us about it. Quickly and Simply. We’ll monitor these so we can learn from your feedback where we may need to improve our services.
Stage 1 Investigation
If we’re unable to resolve your complaint at front line resolution, or you request a formal investigation, we will investigate this as a Stage 1 Complaint. This is managed by a relevant Supervisor or Manager.
During the investigation the Supervisor/Manager will make personal contact with you to fully understand your complaint, before carrying out their investigation. They’ll contact you with the outcome within 10 working days of receiving the complaint. If this isn’t possible, they’ll keep you informed and advise when you should expect a full response.
Stage 2 Review
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your Stage 1 complaint, you’ll need to let us know within 15 working days from the date on your Stage 1 letter.
We’ll need to know:
Where a request for a Stage 2 complaint is accepted, it’s reviewed by 2 senior managers, who'll contact you to discuss the complaint and actions we’ve taken to understand why you feel it’s not been resolved.
They will investigate further and provide their outcome within 20 working days. If this isn’t possible, we’ll keep you informed of progress and advise when you should expect a full response. Stage 2 is the final stage of our complaints process.
You can find out more about our complaints process and what you can expect from us in our Complaints Policy. You can find it on our policies and strategies page
Housing Ombudsman
If you're still unhappy with the outcome of your Stage 2 complaint, or you’d like advice around complaints, you can contact the Housing Ombudsman. The Housing Ombudsman will not review your complaint until 8 weeks after you have received our final response. They’re also unable to consider complaints that exhausted our complaints procedure more than 12 months ago.
You can find out more information about their service by visiting www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk
They can be contacted at:
Housing Ombudsman Service
81 Aldwych
London
WC2B 4HN
Tel: 0300 111 3000
Email: info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk
Designated person
You could also seek advice from a ‘designated person’. A designated person is defined as an MP, local councillor or tenant panel. Designated persons may refer you to the Ombudsman, or they may help you to resolve your complaint locally.
We're sorry if you feel you need to complain. If we’re aware of the situation , but haven’t been able to resolve things for you, please check out how we'll manage your complaint by reading the guidance above. You can then contact us by completing the form and choosing the complaint option, giving us as much detail as you can. One of our team will be in touch by the end of the next working day.
We review our complaint processes each year to ensure we meet the requirements of the Housing Ombudsman’s Scheme and accompanying code. The code sets out good practice that allows us and other landlords to respond to complaints effectively and fairly. This includes how we use learning from complaints to drive service improvements. We’ve carried out a self-assessment against the Code which you can view here. This shows how we comply against the requirements, along with actions for areas where we know we need to improve.
The Housing Ombudsman publish decisions on the cases they’ve investigated on their website. Read more on our latest decisions here.