We want to provide you with excellent customer service, whatever the outcome of your case.
If you have a concern or complaint about the service we’ve given you, first tell the person who has been dealing with your case. If you’re still unhappy, you can find information on this page about how to make a customer service complaint.
If your complaint involves data protection, please refer to our privacy policy which explains what to do if you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your personal information.
We strive to deliver a good service to all our customers, but sometimes, we know things can go wrong. If you’re not happy with our level of service, please let us know:
- the aspect of customer service you want to complain about – for example, if you feel that we’ve caused unnecessary delays, not kept you updated or communicated with you inappropriately
- the details of any communication you’ve had with us that relates to your complaint
- how you’d like us to put things right
We won’t be able to review the outcome of your case through this process. If you want to disagree with the initial assessment of your case, or if you’re unhappy with an Ombudsman’s final decision, see how we make decisions for information about our case-handling process.
Talk to your case handler first about your concerns
If you want to complain about the service we’ve given you, first tell the person who has been dealing with your case. Most of the time, they’ll be able to sort things out for you straight away.
You can contact them at any point while we’re still handling the case, or within three months from the date when we give all parties our answer to the complaint.
If you aren’t sure who to contact, call our consumer helpline. They’ll put you in touch with someone who can help.
But if we can’t resolve things informally, you can raise a formal customer service complaint.
Making a customer service complaint
A customer service complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about the service, experience or handling of a case, but not dissatisfaction with the outcome of a case under the statutory scheme or its merits and/or legal and commercial obligations.
If you’re still unhappy with the service we’ve given you after raising it with your case handler, you can make a formal customer service complaint.
We’ve set out a step-by-step guide about how to make a customer service complaint.
Ask a manager to look at the complaint
If you don’t feel we’ve sorted out the problem for you, tell your case handler that you’d like a manager to look at the complaint.
Who this is will depend on what you’re unhappy about, but we’ll make sure it’s someone who’s well placed to address your concerns.
Your concerns will be acknowledged within two working days – and the manager will reply to them fully within ten working days. If they need more time, they’ll let you know and explain why.
They won’t review the outcome of your case, but they will try to put things right where possible. Their response will set out our findings and explain how you can take your complaint further.
If you’re still unhappy, contact our Customer Complaints team
If a manager has replied to your complaint and you’re still unhappy, you can contact our Customer Complaints team at any point while your case is open or up until a month after it's closed.
Once your complaint is escalated, the Customer Complaints team will acknowledge it within two working days – and reply fully within ten working days. If they need more time, they’ll let you know and explain why.
Like the manager, they won’t review the outcome of your case. But they will carry out an independent review of the service we’ve provided, and put things right where possible.
The Independent Assessor
If you’re unhappy with the response from our Customer Complaints team, you can contact the Independent Assessor.
The Independent Assessor is appointed by our Board and has official terms of reference that set out how and when the Independent Assessor will consider a complaint. The Independent Assessor produces an annual report to the Board, setting out the findings and recommendations made over the year.
The Independent Assessor will carry out their own independent review of the service we gave you. If they think our service was satisfactory, they’ll tell you why. If they think it wasn’t, they’ll explain why and recommend what we should do to put things right.
The Independent Assessor reviews complaints about our level of service. They won’t review the outcome of your case.
