Complaints and compliments 


Angry CustomerWe always welcome feedback on our services, positive and negative, because it helps us improve the way we work.

We are delighted when our customers tells us we’ve got it right, and if you’d like to compliment us on any of our services, you can do this by writing, emailing, phoning or making a personal visit to our office – please see the contact page for details.

Sometimes though, we may get it wrong – and we have made it as easy as possible to complain, so we can put things right.

Examples might include:

  • A request for a repair that has not been completed
  • Failing to respond to initial enquiries
  • Failing to achieve our published standards
  • Unhelpful or discourteous staff
  • The attitude of an ASRA contractor

Enquiries about a service, a report that a service is required, and the first report of a defect are not considered to be complaints.

Making a complaint

Anyone who has anything to do with us can make a complaint about the service they receive.

There are three stages:

STAGE 1

Register your complaint by writing to us.  Make sure you complain within four months of the dissatisfaction occurring. We will acknowledge your letter within three working days, investigate your complaint and respond within 10 working days.  If we can’t do this, we’ll write to let you know when to expect a reply.

STAGE 2

If you’re dissatisfied with the action taken you should write to us again heading your letter ‘Stage Two Complaint’.  A Director will review the matter and give a written response within ten working days of receiving your Stage Two complaint.

STAGE 3

If you’re still dissatisfied after the review by a Director, you should write to us heading your letter ‘Stage Three Complaint’. Your letter should state why you are unhappy with our response to Stage Two. An Appeals Panel will meet to consider your complaint.  The panel will be made up of the Managing Director, a member of the Board and a member of the Tenants Advisory Panel (TAP).

If you’ve pursued all three of these stages and are still not satisfied, you can take the complaint within 12 months to:

The Independent Housing Ombudsman, Norman House, 105-108 Strand, London WC2R 0AA.

You can get details of the Ombudsman service and a form for making your complaint from any of our offices.  You can also visit the Ombudsman’s website at: www.ihos.org.uk

Dealing with your complaint    

We will:

  • Deal with your complaint as quickly as possible
  • Be fair, courteous and helpful
  • Treat your complaint seriously, confidentially and in line with our commitment to diversity
  • Keep you informed
  • Keep written records
  • Monitor all complaints

If your complaint shows we’ve failed in some way and are at fault, we may offer an apology, an explanation, action to put things right, or compensation (especially if you’ve experienced financial loss).

All comments are registered and monitored so we learn from our mistakes.  Our Tenant Advisory Panel and Board consider our performance on complaints.