The complaints process has two stages:
Stage 1: The complaint will be logged by the Customer Relations Team as a Stage 1 complaint. The Complaint will be acknowledged and logged at Stage 1 within 5 working days of receipt.
A full written response will be sent to the customer within 10 working days of the complaint being acknowledged. If this is not possible, an explanation will be provided to the customer along with a date by which the Stage 1 response will be received – this date will not exceed a further 10 days without good reason.
An appropriate manager will investigate the complaint. The manager will produce a written response which will include the Stage 1 outcome and provide reasons for the decision they have reached. The response letter will include details of how to escalate the complaint to the next stage of the process and information about the Ombudsman service.
Stage 2: If the customer remains dissatisfied following the Stage 1 response, they can ask for their complaint to be escalated. The complaint will be considered at Stage 2 by an Assistant Director (AD) or equivalent. The person considering the escalated complaint will not be the same person that considered the complaint at Stage 1. The customer should make their request to escalate within 20 working days of the date of the Stage 1 outcome letter. An acknowledgement will be sent to the customer within 5 working days of their request to escalate. The response to the Stage 2 investigation will be sent out within 20 days.