Complaints

Introduction

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Complaints are a vital part of any business, accepting accountability from any feedback presented to us allows opportunities to review processes, procedures, and people. 

This policy has been created to protect the reputation of Drive Fuze and its employees, by applying a fair and consistent approach to all.  

The aim of this policy is to ensure that all customer complaints, either written or verbal, are handled in a consistent and regulated manner, while attempting to mitigate further complaints.  

This policy will be reviewed regularly, at least annually, and amended as considered necessary by Richard Baker (SMF) in the event of changing circumstances or regulations.

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Policy Statement

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We are committed to delivering a fair, open, and clear process for complaints and ensure a satisfactory outcome for all customers who feel raising a complaint is warranted. We provide thorough staff training in all our customer facing processes, as well as our internal complaints handling procedures, this enables us to support staff continuously in how to handle situations in a written, telephony, and/or face-to-face environment.  

This policy sets our intent and objectives for how we handle complaints, from offering clear and approachable systems for customers to complain, through to conducting root cause analysis on all complaints received to identify the how and who of the complaint and to implement measures to prevent reoccurrences where applicable.

Responsibilities

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Management is responsible for:  

• Ensuring all staff are aware of the complaint management system and the benefits of receiving complaints  
• Provide advice and support to staff, to ensure they understand the complaint management system, and are empowered to manage complaints within the scope of their authority.  
• Ensure all information about our customer complaints policy, and all supporting procedures are easily accessible to all staff.  
• Timely acknowledgement and response to, and processing of complaints in accordance with this policy.  
• Treating complainants in a respectful and courteous manner 
• Full compliance to this Customer Complaints Policy, and all supporting processes.  

Employees are responsible for:  

• Familiarising themselves with this policy and out complaint process  
• Assisting customers who wish to make a complaint  
• Receiving complaints, and where possible resolving them at first point of contact, within the scope of their authority 
• Ensuring all concerns raised by customers are recorded in the Customer Complaints Register  
• Treating complainants in a respectful and courteous manner  
• Escalating unresolved matters to the relevant manager  
• Full Compliance to this Customer Complaints Policy, and all supporting processes

Principles

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Customer Focused  

• Treat all complaints sensitively, while showing compassion to the complainant  
• Deal with all complaints within a timely manner, avoid unnecessary delays  
• Use clear language this is easy for complainant to understand, communicating with them in a way that is appropriate for them and their circumstances.  
• Actively listen to the complainant, consider all they have said before providing any response.  

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Be open and accountable  

• Ensure out complaints process is easy to follow, and readily available.  
• Provide clear evidence-based responses to all complainants, and reasons for concluded decisions  
• Create and maintain reliable records, storing all complaint data in line with our GDPR obligations  
• Take full responsibility for all employees of Drive Fuze, and their contractors, accepting fault for any negative actions taken by them.

Act fairly and proportionately  

• Investigate all complaints thoroughly and fairly  
• Base decisions only, on facts and evidence  
• Do not treat any customers differently during or after a complaint  
• Ensure full discretion and protection for all complainants and any staff member involved  

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Put things right  

There is a wide range of appropriate responses to a complaint that has been upheld. These include:  

• An apology, explanation, and acknowledgement of responsibility.  
• Remedial action, which may include reviewing or changing a decision on the service given to an individual complainant; revising published material; revising procedures; polices or guidance to prevent the same thing happening again; training or supervising staff; or any combination of these  
• Financial compensation for direct or indirect financial loss, loss of opportunity, inconvenience, distress, or any combination of these 

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Seek continuous improvement  

• Ensure as part of the complaints process, we have systems in place to record, analyse, and report on the learnings from complaints  
• Regularly review all lessons to be learnt from complaints  
• Use all feedback, and reporting to continuously review all processes and procedures to improve where appropriate 
• Where appropriate, tell the complainant about the lessons learnt and changes made because of our analysis. 

Procedures and guidelines

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Raising a complaint 

Customers who wish to raise a complaint will be asked to do so in writing and provided a copy of our complaints handling procedure immediately after discussion.  

NOTE: Complaints are to be raised in writing where possible, however verbal complaints will be accepted and dealt with as per the same procedure  

If a customer telephones Drive Fuze and wishes to raise a complaint, they should be given the opportunity to discuss informally first, with the agent attempting resolution. 

Even if a complaint is discussed and dealt with informally, the customer must still be offered the option of receiving the Complaints Handling Procedure and form prior to ending the call, the call recording must be retained, and a log of the complaint made.  

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Data protection related complaint

Where a complaint is related to the processing of personal data, this policy ensures that Drive Fuze complies with the data protection laws and notification requirements.  

Every individual has the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority (ICO) where they consider that the processing of personal data relating to them infringes the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or we have breached data protection law. All individuals using our service and those employed by Drive Fuze are informed of these rights via our Privacy Policy. 

All complaints of this manner should be directly immediately to the Companies Data Controller.  

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Informal complaint handling 

Drive Fuze recognises and responds to all complaints and issues, regardless of how they are raised or what they refer to.  

Some issues and complaints can be resolved immediately, and we endeavour to meet a 24 hour SLA on these complaints, there are referred to as informal complaints. Such instances are where an investigation is not necessary because the nature of the complaint is clear, and a resolution can be obtained without further review. Detailed are logged in the same way as other complaints, and the complainant is still informed of their rights.  

Drive Fuze makes every attempt to resolve complaints at the first initial point of contact where feasible. Informal resolution is always attempted where the issues raised are straightforward and potentially easily resolved. Where an informal resolution has been offered, the complainant will always be offered the opportunity to formalise the complaint if the resolution is not to their satisfaction.  

All frontline staff are trained to deal with informal complaints and are aware of their obligations and the subsequent reporting. Such employees are equipped to attempt to resolve a complaint relevant to their area of expertise.  

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Responding to a complaint

Where an official complaint has been received, or the informal complaint was escalated further, a written acknowledgement is sent to the customer immediately to advise a member of staff will be in contact within 3 working days, this response should include full details of the complaint handling procedure.  

Richard Baker, Rajvi Pancholi and Heather Emmett are the only staff members permitted to respond to complainants.

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Investigating a complaint 

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Each complainant will be assigned to a designated employee for investigation, they will be expected to gather all necessary documentation, recordings, and information to take a non-biased approach to the incident.  

If internal interviews are appropriate, a note taker will be present in line with our gross misconduct policy.  

All complainants should receive communication back within 3 working days, for complex cases regular updates are essential, and outcomes issued within 8-weeks of the initial complaint being raised.  

Investigation findings must be based on fact and evidence relating to the incident, with a non-biased outcome given. A complaint reference should be assigned, and all documentation should have the reference written on them for continuity.  

All references will be added to the complaints register for auditing purposes in the future.

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Final response 

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Once the investigation has concluded and an outcome or action has been reached, a final response letter to the customer should be written. This letter should detail their findings, decision (if applicable), actions, and any compensation the company has chosen to award the complainant (if applicable.) 

The final response should include details of an appeal process and contact details of the complaints management function, should the customer be unhappy with the response received.  A copy of the Financial Ombudsman Service’s standard explanatory leaflet should be enclosed, along with the website address of the Financial Ombudsman Service. The customer should also be informed that if they remain dissatisfied with the response, they may now refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

If we are unable to provide a written response by the end of 8 weeks, it should be explained to the customer why we are not in a position to make a final response and indicate when we expect to provide one. The customer should also be advised that they may now refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. A copy of the Financial Ombudsman Service’s standard explanatory leaflet should be provided, along with their website address.

The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR

Tel:  0800 023 4567 (free for most people ringing from a fixed line) or 0300 123 9123 (cheaper for those calling using a mobile) or 44 20 7964 0500 (if calling from abroad)

Email:  complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Website:  www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

For complaints relating to personal data, the final response will reiterate the complainants’ right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority (ICO) and will detail their contact information.

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Complaint recording 

All complaints, whether formal or informal, are recorded on a Customer Complaint Register. The register consists of the below information.  

• Date Range 
• Customer Name 
• Nature of complaint 
• Department Involved 
• Outcome 
• Actions 
• List of reviewed documentation 
• Resolution time  
• Staff names of those involved  
• Complaint closure date 
• Financial cost  

The register should be reviewed on a frequent basis to ensure that incidents are not being repeated and improvement measures are being taken.