It is our intention to provide a high level of service at all times, however naturally we understand this may be questioned from time to time. We aim to resolve all customer grievances as fairly and professionally as possible and are governed by the expectations of the Financial Services Authority (FSA).Customers are advised of our complaints process at the commencement of the relationship within the policy wording. A complaint is normally defined as:
“involving some allegation that the customer has suffered financial loss, distress or material inconvenience”
A complaint maybe written or verbal.
If a complaint is received orally, many can be resolved immediately and no acknowledgement or other formal paperwork needs to be sent to the customer. However an internal record of the complaint should be retained
.
If a complaint cannot be resolved satisfactorily at the initial oral stage then it must be passed to the appropriate supervisor or manager in relation to the nature of the complaint or the Managing Director for other cases.
All written complaints are to be acknowledged in writing within three working days and this acknowledgement will give an indication of the likely timescale for a full reply.
A full written reply will be given no later than four weeks from the original receipt of the written complaint. If enquiries are still ongoing relating to the complaint, the complainant will be advised that enquiries are still continuing and that a full reply will follow within a further four weeks.
If the complaint cannot be resolved in that time the customer will be advised in writing of their right to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service and the relevant contact details will be provided.
We will still endeavour to resolve the complaint directly with the customer even if the above timescale has exceeded, so long as this is acceptable to the customer.
All complaints will be held in a central complaints file that will be monitored regularly and reviewed at any time.
