We are continuously getting feedback from our customers and fixing things that are identified. This report explores complaint escalations and why initial complaints reached a higher level. Below are some things we have identified and our actions to improve.
What you said:
- You are not doing what you promised to do in your complaint response.
- You have not really understood my complaint or taken my concerns seriously.
- Your compensation offer does not cover the impact of my complaint.
- How you respond to my complaint affects how I feel about your complaints service.
What we found:
- The main reason for your complaint escalations is that we are not doing what we promised to do or are taking too long.
- You are unhappy that we have not understood or taken your complaint seriously and have not offered enough compensation, but these are not the main reason for your escalations.
- Fewer escalations relate to you not agreeing with our decision.
- We have not always understood the outcomes that you are looking for or explained why these might not be possible at the beginning of your complaint.
- We offer compensation for service failures identified in our investigations but could do more to make sure that we understand the impact these have had on you.
- When we have agreed ongoing actions with you to resolve your complaint, we have not always put in place a clear process to manage these.
- You are not always being kept up to date on the actions promised after we have closed your complaint.
- You lose confidence in our complaints service if you remain unhappy with our complaint response at stage 1, or the reasons for our decision are not clear.
What we have done:
- Introduced and conducted mandatory complaints training for colleagues.
- Reminded colleagues to talk to you at the beginning of your complaint to understand your concerns and the outcomes you are looking for.
- Reminded colleagues to contact you before they issue their complaint response to explain the reasons for their decision and to let you know about other support options.
- Updated our complaints process to make sure we let you know who will be responsible for managing any actions promised in your complaint response along with timeframes and their contact details.
- Reviewed our internal compensation guidance in line with the Housing Ombudsman's recommendations.
- Set up an internal independent compensation panel to review high impact complaints.
We will:
- Track and regularly review the progress of actions that we have promised within our complaint responses.
- Continue to review learnings from this area.
If you make a complaint, we will:
- Identify the outcomes you are looking for at the beginning of your complaint and let you know whether these will or might not be possible.
- Talk to you about your support needs and any reasonable adjustment arrangements.
- Agree communication arrangements with you for the duration of your complaint.
- Identify who is going to be responsible for managing any actions promised and provide you with their details before we close your complaint.
- Through our Service Improvement Team, track the progress of any actions promised and keep you informed following complaint closure.
If you escalate your complaint, we will:
- Continue to work to resolve your concerns.
- Let you know whether any arrangements have changed.