Making a complaint

Making a
complaint
viridianhousing.org.uk
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This leaflet tells
you about your
rights to make a
complaint and
how we will deal
with complaints.
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THIS LEAFLET DOES NOT FORM PART OF YOUR
TENANCY TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Making a
complaint
We are committed to providing high quality services at all times,
although we accept that on occasions things can go wrong.
When this happens, we want to know so that we can take steps to
put things right, learn from them and make improvements to the
services we deliver. Our complaints procedure allows us to deal
with problems quickly and fairly, and provides dissatisfied customers
with a way to have their complaints heard and made right, whilst
allowing us to review our performance and continually improve our
services.
What is a complaint?
A complaint is any dissatisfaction expressed by a customer after
receiving a service from us, whether justified or not, or following
an action taken by us which has affected them. In addition, a
complaint may also be about a lack of action or standard of
service provided by us or any person/organisation acting on our
behalf.
The complaint must be about something that has happened or
came to the complainant’s attention within the last six months.
You can make a complaint to us, for example if you feel you have
been:
• told that something would be done, but it has not been done or is
taking too long
• treated unfairly by one of our employees
• informed that you cannot have help or use one of our services
If you are unsure whether your complaint can be dealt with under
our complaints procedure, please contact your local or regional
office for guidance. Full details can be found in our ‘How to contact
us’ leaflet.
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What should I do if I have a complaint?
Complaints can often be resolved by discussing the issue with one
of our employees, and your first point of contact would usually be
your customer service officer, housing officer or scheme manager
who will do their utmost to help you. However, if this does not resolve
the problem and you wish to make a ‘formal’ complaint, please
contact us for a complaints form.
How can I make a complaint?
A complaint will be dealt with however it is made. For example
complaints can be made in writing, by email to complaints@
viridianhousing.org.uk, by telephone or personal visit to your local or
regional office. Full details can be found in our ‘How to contact us’
leaflet.
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What is the complaints procedure?
Our complaints procedure has three stages.
Stage 1
Upon receiving your complaint, we aim to send you an
acknowledgement letter within three working days. A senior
officer or manager will carry out an investigation and send a full
response to you within ten working days. However, if they cannot
respond within this time, they will tell you when you may expect their
response. If we are able to respond to your complaint verbally over
the telephone or face to face, we will confirm what has been said
to you in writing.
If you are not satisfied with our response at Stage 1, you should
contact us as stated in the response letter within 28 days telling
us why you are unhappy and asking for your complaint to be
progressed to Stage 2 of the complaints procedure.
Stage 2
We aim to acknowledge your request to take your complaint
to Stage 2 within three working days. The manager or director
allocated to deal with your complaint at this stage will send their
response to you within ten working days.
Again, should you remain unhappy with how your complaint has
been investigated or resolved following the Stage 2 response, you
should contact us as stated in the response letter within 28 days
giving your reasons for requesting the complaint be taken to Stage
3 of the procedure.
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Stage 3
This is the final stage of our complaints procedure. A complaints
review panel is held comprising a minimum of two residents who
have received full training to enable them to carry out this role. The
role of the panel is to review the actions taken by employees to
ensure that our policies and procedures have been followed and
that the complaint was properly investigated at the previous stages.
We aim to acknowledge your request to progress your compliant
to Stage 3 within five working days of receipt. It may be possible for
the meeting to take place at a venue near your home and this will
be discussed when we contact you to make the arrangements and
any reasonable expenses you incur in attending the meeting will be
reimbursed upon production of receipts.
You may bring a friend or family member with you for support, but
no legal representative is needed as this is not a legal process. If you
require assistance in preparing for the meeting such as the use of
a computer or photocopier, please contact your local or regional
office to make arrangements.
A letter should be sent to you outlining the panel’s final decision
within ten working days from the date of the meeting. The letter will
clearly indicate if your complaint has been upheld or not and the
reasons for this decision. If applicable, you will be advised of your
right to refer the matter to the Housing Ombudsman Service.
Alternatively, you may find it helpful to discuss your complaint with
others such as:
• Citizens’ Advice Bureau
• a legal advice centre
• your local councillor
• your local MP
If needed, we can provide you with help in contacting these
people and organisations.
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The Housing Ombudsman Service
The Housing Ombudsman Service is an independent body set up
to provide a free and fair way of dealing with complaints against
housing organisations. Generally, the Housing Ombudsman will not
consider a complaint unless it has been through all stages of our
complaints procedure, although there may be exceptions to this.
Further information can be found on the Housing Ombudsman
website at www.ihos.org.uk.
The contact details for the Housing Ombudsman are as follows:
Address
Housing Ombudsman Service
81 Aldwych
London
WC2B 4HN
Tel 020 7421 3800
Lo-Call 0845 7125 973
Minicom 020 7404 7092
Fax 020 7831 1942
Email info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk
Following any investigation made by the Housing Ombudsman
Service, we will comply with any recommendations.
Retirement and supported housing residents
If you live in a retirement or supported housing scheme and are not
satisfied with how we have handled your complaint, you have the
following options:
• if your complaint is about our home-care service, you have
the right to complain to the regional office of the Care Quality
Commission
• if your complaint is about our housing support services, you have
the right to complain to the Supporting People team at your local
council
We can provide you with details of these organisations.
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How is the complaints procedure continuously
improved?
We will write to inform you when your complaint has been closed
and include a customer satisfaction questionnaire. The purpose of
this questionnaire is not to look at the complaint again, but to check
that the process used for dealing with complaints works effectively
and identify any improvements. The most effective way for us
to continually improve our complaints service is to receive both
positive and negative feedback from those who have used it.
Will using the complaints procedure affect my legal
rights?
The complaints procedure does not affect your legal rights and you
will still be able to issue a claim against us in the County Court if you
believe you have been discriminated against.
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How will you let us know about the complaints you
receive?
We will report regularly to residents on the complaints we receive
and outline what actions have been taken as a direct result of
receiving them. This information will be published in our resident
newsletters, other publications and displayed in our reception areas
and on our website.
See the leaflet ‘What you can expect from us?’ for details of our
service standards on complaints handling which have been agreed
by residents.
How do you deal with unreasonable complaints?
We reserve the right to refuse to deal with complaints, or to deal
with them differently if they are, in our view, pursued unreasonably
or merit being handled in a different manner to that outlined in
our complaints policy. Where this occurs, the complainant will be
informed as to how their complaint will be dealt with outside of
the staged complaints system, for example through one specific
contact person, by a specified means/time of contact or with the
provision of additional support. If this is the case, the complainant
will be advised in writing.
Complaints will not be re-opened at the complainant’s request if,
after review by us, it is established that no new evidence relevant to
the complaint has been provided.
Help and advice
If you have any questions, need help understanding this leaflet or
would like it in another format, for example in large print, Braille or
on audio tape, or want a copy of the full complaints policy, please
contact your local or regional office. Full details can be found in our
‘How to contact us’ leaflet or on our website viridianhousing.org.uk
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Arabic
هذه الكراسة تشرح آيفية القيام بعمل الشكوى.‏ إذا أردت نسخة من هذه الكراسة بلغتك الخاصة،‏ يرجى الاتصال بمكتبك المحلي أو
الإقليمي.‏
Pashto
دا معلوماتپاڼه د شکايت کولو لارې چارې بيانوي.‏ که د دغې معلوماتي پاڼې يو نقل پر خپله ژبه غواړئ،‏ لطف اً‏
له خپل ځايي يا سيمه ييز دفتر سره تماس ونيسئ.‏
Polish
Niniejsza ulotka zawiera informacje na temat sposobu składania skarg i zażaleń. Jeżeli
chcieliby Państwo otrzymać tą ulotkę w języku polskim, prosimy o kontakt z lokalnym lub
regionalnym biurem.
Russian
В данной листовке описывается порядок подачи жалобы. Если вы хотите получить
копию этой листовки на вашем родном языке, обратитесь в местную или региональную
администрацию.
Somali
Waxuu buugyarahani ku saabsan yahay sida aad cabasho u samaysan karto. Haddii aad
rabto in aad buugyarahan ka hesho nuqul ku qoran luqaddaada gaarka ah fadlan la xiriir
xafiiska xaafaddaada ama gobolka.
Spanish
Este folleto se refiere a la forma en que usted puede presentar una queja. Si usted desea
recibir un ejemplar de este formulario en su propio idioma, sírvase comunicarse con su
oficina local o regionaI.
Turkish
Bu yaprakçk bir şikayeti nasl yapabileceğiniz ile ilgilidir. Eğer bu yaprakçğn kendi dilinizde
olan bir kopyasn arzu ediyorsanz, lütfen yerel ya da bölge ofisiniz ile temasa geçiniz.
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This information has been checked by residents April 2010
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