Complaints and compliments - policy and procedure

Policy statement

South Tyneside Homes aims to provide excellent services to all our customers, but it is acknowledged that on occasion the service delivered may fall short of excellence resulting in customers being dissatisfied. Where problems do occur, South Tyneside Homes is committed to investigating and resolving incidents of dissatisfaction and learn from them. All complaints received will be dealt with impartially, objectively, comprehensively and professionally. Equally, when we receive compliments these are viewed as an opportunity to learn from what our customers feel about the service they have received.

Customers’ views are important to us, and we encourage users of our services to tell us of their experience. We will ensure that when we receive feedback, it is acknowledged and actioned. The following procedure sets out how we will do this.

Introduction

Every organisation receives feedback whether in the form of a complaint about poor service or a compliment regarding good service. Whatever type of feedback is received, it is necessary to have a system to manage it so the information can be processed and acted upon. A robust feedback system also helps to demonstrate that our Company takes customers’ views seriously. Our Complaint Policy and Procedure has been developed in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code 2020, and follows good practice set out by them.

No-one should be excluded from our complaints system because of any difficulties they may have in representing themselves. Sometimes people require assistance from others therefore the complaint does not need to be made by the actual customer. Where a third party is reporting a complaint we will need permission from the actual customer to progress the complaint. Once permission is granted, the complaint investigation will proceed as requested by the third party. If no permission is given, then the complaint will not be progressed.

Complaints will be accepted in a number of formats including online digital form, letter, verbal face to face, telephone, email or Livechat. In line with the Equality Act 2010 we aim to make our Complaint and feedback policy as accessible as possible, and will therefore make reasonable adjustments to ensure that customers are able to raise complaints, have their voice heard and their concerns attended to. We also make this commitment in our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Policy 2022 where we commit to ensuring our services are accessible to all. Our policy can be found on our website at www.southtynesidehomes.org.uk.

Definition

South Tyneside Homes has adopted the Housing Ombudsman Service’s definition of a complaint:

A complaint shall be defined as an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the organisation, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting an individual resident or group of residents.

Sometimes customers may complain without describing their feedback specifically as a complaint. These forms of feedback should be categorised as a complaint if they fall within the definition above.This may include feedback resulting from satisfaction surveys. If expressions of dissatisfaction come through social media platforms, the customer should be privately messaged to discuss the complaint and ask if they would like to log a formal complaint.

Objectives of using the complaints system

Our object is to deal with all complaints impartially, objectively, comprehensively and professionally. In aiming to deliver these objectives our procedure has been designed around the following key elements of a good practice:

• Easy to use
• Helpful
• Not adversarial
• Fair and objective
• Thorough and rigorous
• Consistent
• Sensitive to the special needs and circumstances of the complainant
• Decisive and capable of putting things right when necessary
• Provide clear timescales which are communicated to the customer

Handling complaints and compliments guidance

Complaints

When a customer makes an official complaint, the Officer who takes the details should immediately log the complaint onto the Corporate Feedback System. If they are not able to deal with it informally themselves, the complaint will be assigned to the relevant Officer by the Customer Feedback Officers. If the Officer is able to resolve the issue informally they should make a note in the Open Housing CRM system and log it as an informal complaint.

A complaint is when a customer is not happy with the standard of service we have provided. For example, if:

• We have not delivered a service on time;
• We have not delivered a service at all;
• We have given the wrong information;
• A poor-quality service was received;
• A customer wishes to complain about a member of staff;
• A customer did not receive any feedback on an enquiry they made;
• A customer feels there was a lack of communication.

A complaint should not be confused with a request for service. If the issue has not been raised before, for example a broken tap that has not been reported but the customer wishes to complain about it. The request should be logged as an enquiry. If the repair were to go wrong in some way, and the customer was dissatisfied with the service, this would then be a complaint.

Also, anything which goes through a formal appeal process within South Tyneside Homes, for example appeals about the implementation of our Allocations Policy, is not covered by this Complaints Policy.

When an Officer receives a complaint, they must ask the customer if they have previously complained about this and whether the issue has been reported previously. If this is the first time they have raised the complaint and it meets the criteria above, the issue should be logged as a complaint as set out below (2.4.2).

If they have previously complained about the same issue, a check should be made to see if it has been logged and advise the customer how to follow the next stage of the procedure. This will mean escalating the complaint to the next level if it is within 28 days from the date the complaint was closed.

Scope

This policy relates to all parts of the organisation including services which may not actually deal directly with customers or third parties. The policy also applies to other organisations that provide services to our customers under contract or in partnership with us.

The policy does not apply where there is an appeal or grievance, or where legal proceedings are underway. We will not investigate a complaint which has not been reported to us within 12 months of the issue occurring.

Stage One – Investigation Stage

If we have been unable to resolve a customer complaint informally the customer can log a stage 1 complaint. We will deal with it by investigating the issues and providing a written response to the customer. In order to track complaints and identify service improvements, all complaints will be recorded on the Customer Feedback System.

An acknowledgement letter will be sent from the Customer Feedback Officers to the customer within 5 working days providing a statement of the nature of the complaint. Stage 1 complaints should be dealt with within 10 working days and responses provided using a template letter. Where appropriate the investigating officer should speak with the customer to discuss the findings prior to sending out the response letter, however it is acknowledged that this may not always be possible. The target date is automatically generated by the Customer Feedback System and the investigation begins once the logging procedure is complete including allocation to the investigating officer. If the officer requires longer to complete the investigation they should negotiate a new target date with the customer which should not exceed a further 10 working days, and confirm the new target date with the Customer Feedback Officers so the Feedback system can be updated.

In order to ensure strict deadlines are adhered to when investigating a complaint, the investigating officer should ensure they have made adequate and reasonable attempts to contact a customer without hindering the complaints process and having to put a complaint on hold due to the absence of customer contact. The investigating officer should make a minimum of three attempts to contact the customer to discuss the complaint at different days / times. Where the customer is unavailable / does not return calls, a standard letter should be issued to the customer advising them call contact has been unsuccessful, and the officer will either request a call back from the complainant by a certain date, or alternatively investigate the complaint with the information the customer has previously submitted.

For all complaints linked to debt advice provided by the Welfare Support service and which are subject to scrutiny by the Financial Ombudsman Service the maximum time for a written response to be sent to the Customer is 10 working days.

Stage Two – Second Opinion

If the complaint cannot be resolved the customer can escalate their complaint to stage 2. They will receive an acknowledgement letter within 5 working days providing a statement of the nature of the complaint. These complaints will be investigated by the Customer Feedback Officers reporting directly to the Managing Director for consideration. In his absence, one of the two company Directors will deputise on his behalf.

The purpose of stage two is to assess how the complaint has been investigated at stage one. We will also review any new information provided to assess the complaint. The overall aim is to make sure the complaint has been handled correctly, and to confirm whether the original decision was satisfactory and whether there is potential to achieve a resolution.

If a Stage 2 Complaint is received it must be checked to see if it has been logged and investigated at Stage 1. The customer must provide a clear reason for escalating the complaint, e.g. not all issues have been addressed or there is some outstanding work to be completed. If the customer has received a remedy in full but is still generally dissatisfied but not clear about what more could be done for them, the officer logging the complaint should seek advice from the Customer Feedback Team. If there is no Stage Two Complaint logged, it must be logged on the Corporate Feedback System as a Stage 1 complaint and advise the Customer of the procedure.

If the complaint has already been dealt with at Stage One it should then be escalated and allocated to a Customer Feedback Officer.

A written response must be sent to the Customer upon completion within 20 working days. Where this is not possible a standard holding letter must be sent apologising for the delay and giving the customer a new target date which should not exceed a further 10 working days. The target date is automatically generated by the Customer Feedback System and the investigation begins once the logging procedure is complete including allocation to the investigating officer. Where appropriate the investigating officer should speak with the customer to discuss the findings prior to sending out the response letter, however it is acknowledged that this may not always be possible.

The stage 2 response should provide information on how to refer a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Service or the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman if the customer remains unhappy with the response. All correspondence should be kept in files for future reference and where possible placed on the system, or a note should be placed on the system stating where the information is stored.

For debt advice related complaints the same process will be followed as above, however there is a 30 working day time period.

Tenants Panel

To replace the designated person role which ended on 1st October 2022, STH will explore the option of having a Tenants Panel stage which would be a voluntary stage prior to a customer referring to the Housing Ombudsman Service.

Board Member Champion

STH also has a Board Member Champion for complaints, currently this is a Tenant Board Member. The Champion role is evolving, however it is about having a close insight into complaints, and involvement in the review and development of the Complaint Policy.

Learning from Complaints

Complaint investigators will establish if there is any learning from a complaint and record a Service Improvement along side the complaint outcome, which will be monitored by service managers and Heads of Service, to ensure that improvements are continually made, following customer feedback.

A quarterly analysis of complaints and compliments is provided the Senior Management Team, and the Housing and Corporate Service Committee.

Extending a Complaint

Where an agreement over an extension period cannot be met, then the contact details of the Housing Ombudsman Service should be provided to the customer so that the customer may approach them direct. The investigation should continue during this time. The complaint should not be unreasonably delayed, and should be closed on the Feedback System once a response is provided to the customer.

Antisocial Behaviour Complaints

Under the 2014 Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, people can request a review of their ASB complaint by the council, police and other agencies under something called the Community Trigger. A request can be made to South Tyneside Council or Northumbria Police, who will determine if they are able to review the complaint under the Act.

Premature Ombudsman Complaints

These are complaints that have been referred to the Ombudsman by the customer without having been investigated by South Tyneside Homes and the Ombudsman has referred it to us.

When a Premature Ombudsman Complaint is received, we will log it onto the feedback system as a Stage 1 complaint and forward it to the relevant investigating officer. The investigating officer must deal with the complaint as a Stage 1 complaint and respond within 10 working days.

For complaints that have been to stage 1, these will be logged at stage 2 and allocated to an investigating officer to be investigated within 20 working days.

Ombudsman Complaints

When Ombudsman enquiries are received, the Customer Feedback Officers will co-ordinate a response with the relevant service and return the response to the Ombudsman within the specified timeframe.

Ombudsman complaints linked to the debt advice side of the Welfare Support service will come from the Financial Ombudsman Service direct to South Tyneside Homes. For further details about raising a complaint via the Financial Ombudsman Service, please see full details at Appendix 1.

Members & M.P. Enquiries

When an M.P. or Local Councillor makes an enquiry on behalf of a customer it must be clarified whether the customer is asking for information or making a complaint. All complaints must be logged on the Customer Feedback System as a complaint with M.P./Councillor involvement, this will generate a 10 working day target.

When handling the complaint, a statement must be added onto the customer’s letter to tell them a response is being made to a complaint that has been received from a Councillor/MP. A copy must be sent to the M.P./Councillor with a standard covering letter.

Where it is a request for information, this should be logged on the Customer Feedback System. This will generate a 5 working day target. A response should be sent directly to the M.P./Councillor via the reply channel they have requested.

In terms of permissions for MPs and/or Councillors to access information, paragraph 15 of the relevant Information Commissioner guidance in relation to the Data Protection (Processing of Sensitive Personal Data) (Elected Representatives) Order 2002 (Constituency casework of Members of Parliament and the processing of sensitive personal data) states that “explicit consent is not always needed when a Member processes sensitive personal data in connection with constituency casework”, and furthermore paragraph 16 states that the Order “provides a basis for… disclosure of sensitive personal data by organisations responding to Members acting on behalf of individual constituents.” The full guidance is available from the Information Commissioner’s website at www.ico.org.uk

Re-Allocating a Complaint

When reallocating a complaint, the officer name must be changed in in the “allocated to box”, and also change the Service Team if appropriate. As a matter of good practice if a complaint needs to be reallocated, the officer who is passing the complaint on should contact the member of staff who will receive the complaint to explain why it is being passed to them. Only officers on the approved Complaint Handlers list should be allocated complaints.

Compliments

A compliment is defined as an unsolicited communication from a customer praising an officer or team. This could be for their general attitude, for the service they provided, or for any other area where the customer has valued the performance of the staff concerned. If a compliment is received it should be logged on the feedback system and allocated to the relevant line manager. The manager must pass the Compliment to the officer/team concerned and should consider using feedback from compliments for team training and appraisals. There is provision in the Feedback System for sending letters to both the customer and/or the member of staff to acknowledge the compliment, however it is not essential, it is there as a tool if appropriate to use.

Policy on remedies

By having a policy on remedies we aim to achieve similar resolutions for similar mistakes. This means that when a complaint is upheld a remedy will be appropriate and proportionate to the injustice. Our objective is to put right what went wrong and reach agreement on a remedy which is satisfactory to the customer. As a general guide we would always attempt to put the customer back in the position they would have been in if a mistake had not occurred.

If this is not possible, and it is considered an apology on its own is not enough we will, through negotiation with the customer, try to reach an alternative but reasonable remedy. Although this Policy contains an element of monetary compensation we believe it is not always the best remedy, and should only be used as an exception. Each circumstance should be viewed in its own merits, and where special circumstances exist, the investigating officer should seek permission from their manager and advice from the Customer Feedback Team, to put a suitable remedy in place. One constant in a remedy is an apology.

Specific action

Consideration should always be given to whether there is some practical action, which would provide all or part of a suitable remedy. This may be appropriate when the injustice stems from failure to take some specific action, for example failure to carry out a repair.

Financial compensation

Financial compensation may be appropriate if, for example:

• South Tyneside Homes has taken the appropriate action but has delayed in doing so and the delay has caused injustice;
• there is no practical action which would provide a full and appropriate remedy; or
• the complainant has sustained financial loss or has suffered stress and anxiety

If compensation is required, the investigating officer should contact the Customer Feedback Team to ask for advice. In instances where compensation is due to a customer whose rent account is in arrears or where other monies are owed to South Tyneside Homes, the compensation sum will be deducted from the debt.

Legislation

In fulfilling its obligations under this Policy, South Tyneside Homes will comply with all legislation and regulations as appropriate. South Tyneside Homes will also comply with the General Data Protection Regulation and will keep information on complaints for 10 years and other enquiries including compliments and MP/Councillor enquiries for 3 years.

Dealing with a complaint

Generally, dealing with a complaint is a straightforward process, but in a minority of cases, people pursue their complaints in a way that can either impede the investigation of their complaint or can have significant resource issues for South Tyneside Homes. A small number of customers make complaints that are time wasting, or they persist unreasonably with their complaints, or make complaints in order to make life difficult for staff rather than to genuinely come to a resolution. This may involve those making serial complaints about different matters, or continuing to raise the same or similar matters repeatedly. The frequency of contact can delay the investigation of their complaints and hamper the ability of staff to provide a quality service to other customers. These actions can occur either while their complaint is being investigated, or once we have concluded the complaint investigation.

Limiting the communication

South Tyneside Homes may wish to limit the communication from this type of customer. This Section is based on what the Housing Ombudsman regards as good practice in dealing with such complainants, and helpful suggestions were additionally provided from the South Tyneside Homes involved tenants.

In this Section, we use the terms ‘unreasonable complainant behaviour’, and ‘unreasonably persistent complainants’. For us, unreasonable and unreasonably persistent complainants are those complainants who, because of the frequency or nature of their contacts with us, hinder our consideration of theirs, or other people’s complaints.

Unreasonable and unreasonably persistent complainants may have justified complaints or grievances but they choose to pursue these in inappropriate ways. Or they may be intent on pursuing complaints which appear to have no substance or which have already been investigated and determined. Their contacts with us may be amicable but still place very heavy demands on staff time, or they may be very emotionally charged and distressing for all involved.

Sometimes the situation between us and a complainant can escalate, and the behaviour moves from being unreasonable and unreasonably persistent to behaviour which is unacceptable, for example, abusive, offensive or threatening. Such complainants are in a very small minority, but sometimes we end up in the position of having to restrict access to South Tyneside Homes’ premises or even having to resort to legal action to address such behaviour, for example, in the form of anti-social behaviour orders or injunctions.

We have policies and procedures for dealing with unacceptable behaviour and protecting staff from harassment and harm. This guidance does not relate to those kind of behaviours and actions to address anti-social or abusive behaviour.

Deciding whether someone is an ‘unreasonable’ or an ‘unreasonably persistent’ complainant

These are some of the actions and behaviours of unreasonable and unreasonably persistent complainants that we often find problematic:

• refusing to specify the grounds of a complaint, despite offers of assistance from members of staff;
• refusing to co-operate with the complaints investigation process, while still wishing their complaint to be resolved;
• refusing to accept that issues are not within the remit of our Complaints Procedure, despite having been provided with information about the Procedure’s scope;
• insisting on the complaint being dealt with in ways that are incompatible with our Complaints Procedure or with good practice;
• making what appear to be groundless complaints about the staff dealing with the complaint, and / or seeking to have them replaced;
• changing the basis of the complaint as the investigation proceeds and / or denying statements that he or she made at an earlier stage;
• introducing trivial or irrelevant new information which the complainant expects to be taken into account and commented on, or raising large numbers of detailed but unimportant questions and insisting they are all fully answered;
• electronically recording meetings and conversations without the prior knowledge and consent of the other persons involved;
• adopting a ‘scattergun’ approach: pursuing a complaint or complaints, with South Tyneside Homes and, at the same time, with the Council, a Member of Parliament / a Councillor / Independent Auditor / the Standards Board / Local Police / Solicitors / the Local Government Ombudsman/ the Housing Service Ombudsman;
• making unnecessarily excessive demands on the time and resources of staff whilst a complaint is being looked into, by for example excessive telephoning or sending emails to numerous South Tyneside Homes staff, writing lengthy complex letters every few days and expecting immediate responses;
• submitting repeat complaints, after complaints processes have been completed, essentially about the same issues, with additions / variations that the complainant insists make these ‘new’ complaints that should be put through the full Complaints Procedure;
• refusing to accept the decision – repeatedly arguing the point and complaining about the decision;
• making complaints that appear to be time wasting, or make complaints in order to make life difficult for staff rather than to genuinely come to a resolution;
• combinations of some or all of these.

Our Policy on ‘unreasonable’ and ‘unreasonably persistent’ ‘complainants

Different considerations will apply depending on whether the investigation of the complaint is ongoing or whether it has been concluded. For example if a customer is refusing to accept an outcome, we have the option of restricting communication with the customer, and where appropriate referring the complainant to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman or the Housing Ombudsman Service. However, where the complaint is ongoing, there needs to be some continuing contact with the customer.

The decision to designate someone as an unreasonable or unreasonably persistent complainant is difficult and could have serious consequences for the individual. Before deciding whether the Policy should be applied we need to be satisfied that:

• the complaint is being or has been investigated properly;
• any decision reached is the right one;
• communications with the customer have been adequate; and
• the customer is not now providing any significant new information that might affect our view on the complaint.

If we are satisfied on these points we need to consider whether further action is necessary before we take a decision to designate the complainant as unreasonable or unreasonably persistent. In all cases staff should seek advice at an early stage from the Assistant Head of Service - Income, Welfare Support and Customer Service.

Options for action

The following list sets out some possible options for managing a complainant’s involvement with South Tyneside Homes:

• placing time limits on telephone conversations and personal contacts;
• restricting the number of telephone calls that will be taken (for example, one call on one specified morning / afternoon of any week);
• limiting the complainant to one method of contact (telephone, letter, email etc) and / or requiring the complainant to communicate only with one named member of staff or team;
• requiring any personal contacts to take place in the presence of a witness;
• refusing to register and process further complaints about the same matter; and
• where a decision on the complaint has been made, providing the complainant with acknowledgements only of letters, or emails, or ultimately informing the complainant that future correspondence will be read and placed on the file but not acknowledged. A designated officer should be identified who will read future correspondence.

Staff should consult the Complaints Manager in every case where you plan to take action to limit our contact with a complainant. A plan of action will be developed and all members of staff who have been subject to the unreasonable, or unreasonably persistent behaviour of the complainant, are made aware of the existence of the plan and understand the action(s) they must take.

Full records must be kept by all officers involved, detailing the action being taken and the reasons for this. Our Corporate Feedback System is accessible to all staff via the Intranet, and so the fact that an action plan exists should also be noted on the system.

Operating the policy

Before we apply any restrictions, the complainant must be given a warning that if their actions continue, we may decide to place restrictions on their communication, along with an explanation about why we have made this decision.

The Complaints Manager will work with the officer involved to write to the complainant informing them that:

• the decision has been taken;
• what it means for his or her contacts with us;
• how long any restrictions will last; and
• what the complainant can do to have the decision reviewed.

All staff must ensure that they keep adequate records of all contacts with unreasonable and unreasonably persistent complainants.

Reviewing the arrangements

A review of a decision to restrict a customer’s contacts must be taken by an officer senior to the person who made the original decision. The Complaints Manager will write to advise the complainant of the outcome and, if restrictions are to continue to be applied, when these will next be reviewed.

All restrictions must be reviewed at least every six months to identify if the restrictions can be lifted. If the restrictions are cancelled, urgent consideration will be given to re-introducing the restrictions if the behaviour that led to the original decision recommences. In all cases, we will ensure that the customer:

• is given information about the decision-making process and who decides whether the Policy will be applied in their case;
• understands the restrictions that will be placed on contacts, and for how long;
• is given full details of their right to have the decision reviewed, and details of how to appeal against the decision;
• is given guidance on the nature of the records we will keep;
• understands which officers of South Tyneside Homes are to be informed that contact with them is being restricted and why, and who will have access to that information on request.

This Complaints and compliments policy and procedure will be reviewed annually.