Compliments and complaints

We are committed to continuously evolving our service and we’d love to hear your thoughts, whether you’ve had a positive experience, or if you think there are areas where we could improve. If you’d like to leave us a comment, or raise a complaint with us, let us know by filling out our comments form.

Complaints

Things to consider before logging a complaint:

• If you’re reporting a repair, this can be logged through the My Onward portal
• If you’re reporting antisocial behaviour, please head to our antisocial behaviour page for further advice
• Let us know clearly who you are. We want to work with you to find a solution and won’t be able to anonymously
• Under normal circumstances you must make your complaint within 12 months of the event you want to complain about. In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to accept a complaint outside of these timescales, but you must provide justification as to why this is the case within your complaint

What is a complaint?

• Not delivering a service in line with our agreed standards
• We have done something that we should not have done
• There are concerns about the way something has been dealt with
• There have been delays in responding to enquiries or requests
• The conduct, treatment, or attitude of one of our staff members, contractors, or representatives has caused concern
• We have not complied with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code

What isn’t a complaint?

• An initial request for a service or information about one of our services
• An initial request for us to intervene or address the behaviour of others e.g., a first-time report of anti-social behaviour
• Issues that are in court or have already been heard by a court or tribunal
• A request for information under the Data Protection Act
• Disagreement with a decision where there is a statutory procedure for challenging that decision, or an established appeals process followed throughout the sector

Making a complaint 

We don’t always get things right first time and if you do have any problems, let us know straight away and we’ll do our best to rectify the problem during the initial enquiry.

If we think your enquiry meets the definition of a complaint as defined by the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, or if you ask us to log your enquiry as a complaint, we will record this on our system. This will be investigated under Stage 1 of our complaint handling process. We will always write to you to confirm the outcome of your complaint and we’ll also let you know what action we intend to take to put things right.

If you remain unhappy with our response at Stage 1, you can request that your complaint is reviewed by a Director. This is Stage 2 of our process. Following a review of the Stage 1 complaint, the Director will write to you to confirm their findings and set out any action they intend to take to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction. This is the final stage in our complaint handling process.

Should you require any help, support, or advice in relation to your concerns about our service, you can speak to a designated person such as a Councillor or Member of Parliament. You may also contact the Housing Ombudsman Service, an independent organisation that investigates complaints. You may contact the Ombudsman at any stage prior to, or during our complaints process. You can do this by:

• Referring your complaint online at Make a complaint
• Calling them on freephone at 0300 111 3000
• Writing to them at Housing Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, Harbour Exchange Square, London, E14 9GE
• Emailing info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk

Housing Ombudsman: find out more

Visit our Complaints Resolution Policy  or our Complaints Plain Guide and our Remedies and Financial Redress Guidance for further information. You can view our Self-Assessment of the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code here.