Unreasonable behaviour policy
This page sets out our policy on unreasonable behaviour, including:
- what we consider to be unreasonable behaviour, and
- the actions we might take if a customer’s behaviour goes beyond what we consider to be acceptable.
Our policy
Treating all our customers fairly – and listening to them so that we can resolve their complaint – is at the heart of what we do.
We recognise that the issues leading to a complaint can be frustrating and upsetting. But our staff always deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect. So, if frustration or upset turns into unreasonable behaviour, we will take action to manage it.
Our policy applies to:
- all areas of our work
- anyone who contacts us including existing or potential customers, representatives and businesses
- all methods of contact including telephone, face to face, letters, emails, social media and other digital channels
Before we make any decisions under this policy, we’ll look at what's happened. And we'll always consider a customer's individual circumstances. If we decide to take action to manage unreasonable behaviour, we’ll let the customer know why.
Complaints about our service
We want to give our customers excellent service and handle complaints well. If you’re unhappy with something we do, or our service, you should contact us.
If you want to complain about our service, use our complaints procedure and we’ll try to resolve the problem.
Aggressive or abusive behaviour
We deal with emotional issues that matter to our customers. So, we accept that customers may be unhappy when they contact us or may not agree with the outcome we reach.
But it’s unacceptable for our staff to experience aggressive or abusive behaviour while at work. So, we won't accept or tolerate behaviour that we consider to be violent, insulting or threatening, such as:
- offensive language
- any form of discrimination
- inflammatory statements, that are intended to upset someone or make them angry
- any threat of physical violence
- malicious communication, for example indecent, offensive or threatening letters, emails or articles, that are intended to upset the person receiving them.
Unreasonable demands
We’ll always help our customers understand what they can expect from our service. But if a customer makes unreasonable demands, that may mean we can’t provide the service we want to all our customers.
Examples of unreasonable demands include insisting on:
- a response or action within an unreasonable time
- speaking to a particular member of staff when we’ve explained they’re not available
- speaking to someone who we’ve explained isn’t the right person.
Excessive levels of contact
We understand customers will contact us about their complaint to discuss it or update us. But, if a customer contacts us too much, too often, it can affect how well we do our job.
Examples of excessive contact include:
- making the same request to several members of staff without good reason
- repeated phone calls – including to our helpline – emails, letters or visits to our offices when we’ve already given a response, or we’ve set expectations about when to expect a response
- unreasonable and persistent use of our service complaint process.
Actions we might take
Where we find the behaviour and demands of customers to be unreasonable, we’ll consider whether we need to take more formal action. This might include:
- explaining to the customer why we think their behaviour is unreasonable and what action we might take if it continues
- stopping communication about a particular issue or question that we feel we’ve already responded to or answered
- stopping communication with someone by phone and only contacting them in writing or by
- stopping direct communication with someone and only communicating through a representative
- stopping the investigation of a complaint
- notifying relevant public authorities, including the police, and taking further action if necessary.
We’ll aim to keep the impact of this to the minimum necessary for us to solve the problem.
