Complaints about our service

A service complaint is about how we have handled your case. Examples include if we:

• were rude to you;
• did not contact you as agreed;
• failed to follow our processes;
• caused unnecessary delays; or
• did not keep you updated.

We cannot consider complaints about:

• our decision to accept or reject a case for investigation;
• whether we gathered the right evidence or reached the correct conclusion;
• our policies or processes themselves. We will look at complaints where we did not follow our own process, but not those where you think our rules are wrong. For example, we may consider a complaint that we ignored your request for a representation, but not one saying our criteria for accepting representations are too narrow;
• the structure or funding of our service;
• how we chose to investigate your dispute; or
• decisions made to resolve your dispute.

If you disagree with a final decision in your case, please contact the person who made that decision.
We also cannot review concerns about our response to a subject access request. For these, contact the Information Commissioner on 0303 123 1113.

We are committed to learning from every concern raised. We review feedback to identify improvements and share learning across our teams so we can keep improving the service we provide. However, there are some circumstances in which we might not respond to your concerns under this policy.

If you are seeking an outcome that cannot be delivered under this policy, we may reject your service complaint. For example, if you are looking for the outcome or investigation into your dispute to be reviewed, reconsidered, or redone, we may reject your service complaint. This is because changing the outcomes or the decision in your dispute is not an outcome that can be achieved through the service complaint process.

The service complaint process is about how we handled your case, not about revisiting decisions or re-directing investigations

We also expect complaints to be made respectfully. If a complaint is abusive, aggressive, or unreasonable, or if it seems to be made just to cause disruption, we may refuse to investigate it.

If we reject your complaint, we will explain why and, where possible, point you to the right place for help. There is no right to appeal the decision to reject a service complaint.

Tell the person dealing with your case

If you are unhappy with any aspect of our handling of your case, we would encourage you to speak to the person dealing with your case in the first instance. They will be more than happy to assist and they will likely be able to resolve your concerns straight away.

Stage 1. Manager

If the person dealing with your case has been unable to resolve your concerns, you can ask for it to be considered by a Manager who is independent from the case. Your service complaint must be made within one month of the final decision on your dispute. A formal response will be sent to you within one month of receiving your complaint if your concerns cannot be resolved informally.

Stage 2: Senior Manager

If the Manager has not been able to resolve your complaint you can ask for it to be considered by a Senior Manager. You will need to do so within 14 days of receiving the final outcome of Stage 1 of the service complaint process. They will respond to you within one month of receiving your complaint.

Stage 3: Ask the Independent Reviewer to review the service you have received

If you remain unhappy after receiving a response from the Senior Manager you may refer your complaint to the Independent Reviewer. You will need to do so within 14 days of receiving the final outcome of Stage 2 of the service complaint process.

The Independent Reviewer is appointed by TPO’s Board to consider complaints at the final stage of the service complaint process. The Independent Reviewer’s full terms of reference can be found on our website. You will usually receive a response to your complaint within one month of the Independent Reviewer receiving it.

You can write to the Independent Reviewer at: independent.reviewer@tpos.co.uk.

Please note that the Independent Reviewer will not consider concerns about the decision of your dispute against the agent.

There may be instances where your service complaint may be fast-tracked through our process. This means, for example, your concerns may be escalated to Stage 2 and considered by a Senior Manager in the first instance. This may occur in exceptional circumstances, or if it appears unlikely that your concerns cannot be resolved without the intervention of a Senior Manager and/or the Independent Reviewer. The decision about whether to fast track a service complaint will be at our discretion. If we do decide to fast track your service complaint, we will explain why.

We will usually contact you to clarify your complaint and investigate your concerns. We will review your case file and we may speak to staff members involved. Any formal response to you will include the following:

• a summary of the concerns we have considered;
• the evidence we have reviewed;
• our decision on your complaint, together with reasons; and
• steps we will take to address your concerns (if appropriate).

We will also share the learning from your complaint with the relevant member(s) of staff and more widely across TPO where that is appropriate.

Complaints about our Service (PDF)