complaints

							    Southwark and London Diocesan Housing Association

             COMPLAINTS POLICY AND PROCEDURES

Definition of a Complaint

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, not resolved immediately to the
customer’s satisfaction, about the level, quality or nature of a service provided by
SLDHA and/or its agents. This could include the conduct of staff generally.

Making Complaints

A complaint can be made either by telephone or in person, in writing, or by e mail. A
complaint can also be made through a representative. All complaints will be logged
onto a complaints database. A ‘complaints form’ is available on request.

Complaint by Telephone or in person

When a complaint is made it should be recorded either by (the complainant, or on
their behalf by) a member of staff, or the complainant’s representative. It helps if the
complainant outlines what they would like staff to do. The first contact will be the
Housing Services Manager who will be expected to do all they can to resolve the
matter.

Complaint in Writing

When a tenant expresses dissatisfaction with a service in writing it should generally
be treated as a formal complaint.

SLDHA will respond to the letter by attempting to resolve the matter in the reply, as
this is assumed to be the equivalent of trying to “immediately resolve the issue to the
customer’s satisfaction” as applied to telephone or personal complaints.

The reply to the letter should always explain to the complainant that if they are not
satisfied with the response they are able to request a complaint form or write a letter
clearly headed “Formal Complaint”.
Through a representative

A tenant’s representative can take up the complaint on the tenant’s behalf, acting as
their advocate. Any responses should be copied to the tenant representative as well as
the complainant.

Stages of Complaint

There are three stages in the complaints policy, and each complaint should start at the
first stage and progress through until it has been resolved. However the Housing
Services Manager has the discretion to bypass stages if warranted. For example a
complaint against the Housing Services Manager should be investigated by the
Director, and therefore start at Stage 2.

Stage 1

The Housing Services Manager will be expected to do all he/she can to help. They
will acknowledge that they have received the complaint within 5 working days and
will aim to investigate and resolve the matter within 15 working days. There may be
a few occasions where a full investigation is not possible within this timescale. A
reply should still be sent within 15 working days explaining why and giving a definite
date for a reply.

The Housing Services Manager will investigate the complaint and:

       -       Find out what happened
       -       Why it happened
       -       What can be done now. This involves talking to staff, looking at files
               and records, checking if policies and procedures followed were
               adequate
       -       Then draft a response to the complainant

Stage 2

If tenants are still dissatisfied they may refer their complaint to the Director. From the
date that the matter is referred in this way, the Director will aim to resolve the
complaint within a further 15 working days.
Stage 3

If tenants are still not satisfied with the Director’s decision they should write to the
Chair of the Committee of Management through the association’s office:

       Trinity House
       4 Chapel Court
       Borough High Street
       London SE1 1HW

The Chair of Committee of Management will arrange for a designated member of
Committee to meet with the tenant to discuss the reason for their dissatisfaction. The
tenant may bring a friend or representative to this meeting. A senior member of staff
should be present, as well as the Tenant’s representative. Relevant staff may also be
asked to attend. A response, if possible will then be sent to the tenant within fifteen
(15) working days. The designated member of Committee acting as chair will fully
re-investigate the complaint, ensuring that the response is not just a reproduction of
previous responses.

The matter will then be reported to the next meeting of the Committee of
Management where a decision will finally be taken.

The Independent Housing Ombudsman

After SLDHA’s complaints procedure has been exhausted (stage 3), the complainant
may contact the Independent Housing Ombudsman (IHO) if they are still not
satisfied. This is an independent service which addresses complaints after the
landlord’s procedures have been exhausted.

Should a complainant contact the Ombudsman before exhausting SLDHA’s
complaints procedure, the Ombudsman will refer them back to the association. When
this happens the case should be logged and an acknowledgement sent to the
Ombudsman. It will be up to SLDHA then to carry out follow up action.

At stage 3 part of the response from the designated chair from the Committee should
involve sending the complainant an IHO leaflet which explains the role of the
Ombudsman and how to go about complaining to them.
The complainant would be given the contact details which are:
      The Independent Housing Ombudsman
      Norman House
      105-109 The Strand
      London WC2R OAA

       Tel: 020 7836 3630    Fax: 020 7836 3900

If the tenant feels that SLDHA has discriminated against them on the ground of race
or gender they can take the complaint to the County Court at any time. Any
complaints regarding racial harassment shall be dealt with separately in accordance
with SLDHA’s Racial Harassment Code of Practice.