Key facts
Complaints Service Standards
Our promise to you
We are committed to offering excellent customer service, so that every time you contact us you have a good experience. Our complaints and feedback policy sets out what you can expect from us when you make a complaint or provide feedback on our services.
Our customer advocacy team will work with our customers, colleagues and stakeholders to put right what has gone wrong, wherever possible. They will make sure all necessary learning has taken place and services are improved as a result of a complaint.
We will:
- Log your complaint or feedback within five working days and get in touch to let you know that we’ve received it. We will respond sooner if we can. Please note that our working days are Monday to Friday and don’t include evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
- Aim to respond to your stage 1 complaint within 10 working days of letting you know that we have received it. Please note that County Town Homes complaints will follow a different timescale and process to comply with the relevant code for homebuilders.
- Contact you to discuss your complaint.
- Review your complaint again if you let us know that you are not happy with the response you receive. We will do that within 20 working days of us acknowledging your request.
- Please note that County Town Homes complaints will follow a different timescale and process, to comply with the relevant code for homebuilders.
- Our customer advocacy team will work with you to find a solution to your complaint that you are happy with and they will keep you informed throughout the process.
- Provide you with information regarding the relevant Ombudsman service and your rights to contact them at any time regarding your complaint. Contact details of the relevant service will be provided to you.
- Learn from complaints, comments and compliments, and use them to improve our services. We will share news about our improvements through customer newsletters and e-bulletins, in our annual report and on our websites.
- Give updates to the Customer Partnership Panel and Homes Board so that they can review the issues giving rise to complaints and understand what improvements we have made as a result.
Step by step guide to making a complaint
How to make a complaint and provide feedback
- You can make your complaint, comment or compliment by letter, email, telephone, social media or via our website.
- You can also make your complaint in person, to a member of our team.
- If you need help to make a complaint or give feedback, we can offer assistance or direct you to other sources of support.
- You may ask a friend or somebody else to raise a complaint or provide feedback on your behalf. If someone else complains on your behalf, we will confirm that you are happy with that and that it reflects your concerns accurately.
- We will provide the response in a mutually agreed format.
- When you are making your complaint, there are a few important things to remember. Please give us as much detail as possible about what went wrong. Let us know when it happened, who was affected and how. And don’t forget to give us your name, address and contact details. We are happy to help you with this, if you need us to.
- Tell us what you want us to do to put things right.
- When we receive your complaint, we will review all the information provided and we will get in touch if we need to clarify anything.
- When a customer advocacy officer is assigned, they will contact you to get a better understanding of the complaint. If it is necessary, we may arrange a home visit.
- We will normally respond in writing by letter or email, unless you have told us that you prefer to be contacted in a different way. We will let you know if this will be longer than the 10 working days.
- If you are making a compliment, please try and provide the name of the person you are complimenting so we can make sure they get the recognition they deserve.
Requesting a review – Stage 2
- If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you can ask for it to be escalated to Stage 2. A Stage 2 complaint will be reviewed by the senior advocacy officer and signed off by the director of the relevant service or a member of the executive team.
- When you are asking for a review at Stage 2, it would help us if you were able to tell us why you were not happy with the response provided and how you would like us to resolve the complaint.
- A senior advocacy officer will contact you to discuss the complaint and acknowledge your complaint in writing within five working days.
- We will carry out an investigation and will provide a written response to your complaint.
Ombudsman services
Housing Ombudsman
If you are a Homes Plus customer and your complaint falls within the remit of the Housing Ombudsman service, you can contact them at any time during the complaints process.
Write to: Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET
Tel: 0300 111 3000
Email: info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk
Online form: www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/contact-us/
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
If you are a Care Plus customer and you are making a complaint about the care you receive, you can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Write to: Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH
Call: 0300 061 0614
Complete an online form: https://www.lgo.org.uk/how-to-complain
Please note that if you are a County Town Homes customer and you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint after you’ve exhausted the complaints process, we will let you know how you can take this further.
Contact us
You can contact the customer advocacy team for further help and support about your complaint and to ask any questions you may have about our complaints and feedback policy.
Tel: 0800 048 8955
Email: feedback@housingplusgroup.co.uk
Website: www.homesplus.co.uk/contact-us/how-to-make-a-complaint-and-provide-feedback/
