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Complaints Policy

 

Definitions and Interpretation

1.1 In this Complaints Policy the following expressions have the following meanings:

“Appeal” Refers to a request from a Customer to escalate a Complaint to Level Two following an unsatisfactory outcome at Level One;

“Appeal Handler” Refers to an employee of Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd working at Director level who will handle Level Two Complaints;

“Complainee” Refers to a complaint made against a particular staff member

“Business Day” Refers to, any day (other than a Saturday or Sunday) on which ordinary banks are open for their full range of normal business in the UK;

“Complaint” Refers to a Complaint about the services provided by Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd, about Our Customer service, or about Our staff;

“Complaint Handler” Refers to an employee of Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd working at Director level who will handle Level One Complaints;

“Complaints Policy” Refers to Our Customer Complaints Policy, available upon request;

“Complaint Reference” Refers to a unique code assigned to a Complaint that will be used to track that Complaint;

 “Customer” Refers to a service user of Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd;

“Data Protection Policy” Refers to Our Data Protection Policy, available upon request;

“Decision Letter” Refers to a letter sent by a Complaint Handler or Appeal Handler to a Customer informing that Customer of the outcome of their Complaint;

 

Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd

t/a Get Property Compliant

Registered Number: 12828156 Registered address: c/o 22-28 Willow Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1LP

ICO Registration Number: ZA787506 Email: [email protected] Phone: 01254 721976

 

“Investigation Report”  Refers to the report prepared by a Complaint Handler or Appeal Handler detailing his/her investigation;

 “Level One”  Refers to the first stage in this Complaints Handling Procedure under which Complaints will be handled by a Complaint Handler;

“Level Two” Refers to the second stage in this Complaints Handling Procedure under which a Customer may appeal the outcome of a Level One Complaint and under which Complaints will be handled by an Appeal Handler;

“We, Us, Our” Refers to Professional Sourcing Compliance and Our staff

 

2. What this Complaints Handling Policy Covers

  1. 2.1  This Complaints Handling Policy applies to Complaints pertaining to the provision of services by Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd, Our Customer service and to Our staff. Professional Sourcing Compliance Welcomes and encourages any feedback from its Customers. We hope that you receive very high levels of service from Us, however We do recognise that sometimes things go wrong and if you have a Complaint about Our services We will do all that We can to resolve the issue to your satisfaction.

    We aim to resolve any Complaints quickly and fairly, in particular Our aims are:

    1. 2.1.1  To provide a clear and fair procedure for any Customers who wish to make a Compliant about Professional Sourcing Compliance, Our services or Our staff;

    2. 2.1.2  Ensuring that all staff members working for Professional Sourcing Compliance understand how to deal with Complaints from Our Customers;

    3. 2.1.3  Ensuring that all Complaints are dealt with fairly and in a timely fashion;

    4. 2.1.4  Ensuring that important lessons to be learned from any Complaints are used in future to avoid repetition.

  2. 2.2  For the purposes of this Complaints Handling Policy, any reference to Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd also includes Our employees, agents and subcontractors.

 

Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd

t/a Get Property Compliant

Registered Number: 12828156 Registered address: c/o 22-28 Willow Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1LP

ICO Registration Number: ZA787506 Email: [email protected] Phone: 01254 721976

  1. 2.3  Complaints may relate to any of Our activities and may include (but are not limited to):

    1. 2.3.1  The quality of Our Customer service;

    2. 2.3.2  The behaviour and/or professional competence of Our staff;

  2. 2.4  The following do not constitute complaints. Customers raising such questions or matters should be directed to the appropriate person:

    1. 2.4.1  General questions about Our services;

    2. 2.4.2  Matters concerning contractual or other legal disputes;

    2.4.3 Formal requests for the disclosure of information including, but not limited to, those made under the Data Protection Regulations;

3. Receipt and Recording of Complaints

  1. 3.1  Customers may make Complaints to Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd using any of the following methods:

    1. 3.1.1  Writing, addressed to Mrs Tina Walsh, c/o 22-28 Willow Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1LP;

    2. 3.1.2  Or by email, addressed to Mrs Tina Walsh at tina@getpropertycompliant. co.uk

  2. 3.2  Upon receipt of Complaints, the following steps should be taken within 3 Business Days:

    1. 3.2.1  If a written Complaint is received by post, Mrs Tina Walsh must acknowledge receipt of the Complaint;

    2. 3.2.2  If a written Complaint is received by email, Mrs Tina Walsh must acknowledge receipt of the Complaint;

    3. 3.2.3  If a Complaint is made by telephone, the person receiving the call must request that the Complaint be submitted in writing to Mrs Tina Walsh either via post or email – Contact details for either to be provided. The person receiving the call must also inform Mrs Tina Walsh of the ‘Verbal Complaint’ and complete and submit a company Complaint Form to her;

  3. 3.3  All Complaints must be given a Complaint Reference Number and forwarded to an appropriate Complaint Handler, selected in accordance with Section 6.1, within 1 Business Day.

 

Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd

t/a Get Property Compliant

Registered Number: 12828156 Registered address: c/o 22-28 Willow Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1LP

ICO Registration Number: ZA787506 Email: [email protected] Phone: 01254 721976

3.4 All Complaints must be acknowledged, in writing, within 3 Business Days of receipt by a Director. The acknowledgement should inform the Customer of their Complaint Reference Number, their assigned Complaint Handler and should include copies of Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd.’s Customer Complaint Policy, this Complaints Handling Procedure.

 

4. Complaint Information

  1. 4.1  Customers are advised in Our Complaints Policy that the following information should be provided in as much detail as is reasonably possible when making a Complaint:

    1. 4.1.1  The Customer’s name, address, telephone number and email address, indicating any preferred method of communication;

    2. 4.1.2  If the Customer is being represented by a third party, the information set out in Section 4.1.1 should be provided in reference to both parties;

    3. 4.1.3  If the Complaint relates to a particular product/service, the details;

    4. 4.1.4  If the Complaint relates to a particular member of staff, the name and, where appropriate, position of that person;

    5. 4.1.5  Further details of the Complaint including, as appropriate, all times, dates, events and people involved;

    6. 4.1.6  Details of any documents or other evidence on which the Customer wishes to rely in support of the Complaint;

    7. 4.1.7  Details of how the Customer would like Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd to resolve the Complaint. Whilst We undertake to make all reasonable efforts to accommodate such requests, however, We are not bound to take any action beyond that which We may be contractually or otherwise legally obliged to take.

  2. 4.2  If the information detailed in Section 4.1 is missing, insufficiently detailed, or incomplete, the Complaint Handler should contact the Customer within 3 Business Days of being assigned to the Complaint to request further information.

 

5. Complaint Levels

5.1 Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd operates a two-stage complaints handling procedure. Upon receipt, all new Complaints should be handled in accordance

 

Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd

t/a Get Property Compliant

Registered Number: 12828156 Registered address: c/o 22-28 Willow Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1LP

ICO Registration Number: ZA787506 Email: [email protected] Phone: 01254 721976

with the Level One procedure set out in Section 6 below. It is Our policy to use all reasonable endeavours to resolve all Complaints to Customers’ satisfaction at Level One.

5.2 If a Customer is not satisfied with the resolution of their Complaint at Level One, he/she may request that the Complaint is escalated to Level Two in the form of an Appeal at which point the Complaint should be handled in accordance with the Level Two procedure set out in Section 7 below.

 

6. Level One Complaints

  1. 6.1  The following staff members are qualified and eligible Complaint Handlers for Level One Complaints:

    Mrs Tina Walsh, Director, [email protected]; Mr Tony Walsh, Director, [email protected];

  2. 6.2  Upon receipt of a Complaint, the Complaint Handler shall consider the Complaint and make a decision within 2 Business Days whether to:

    1. 6.2.1  Investigate the Complaint fully if it is considered to be valid, in which case the procedure should resume from Section 6.3; or

    2. 6.2.2  Dismiss the Complaint if it is considered to be invalid, in which case the Complaint Handler should inform the Customer of his/her decision in writing within 7 Business Days.

  3. 6.3  Subject to delays arising from circumstances beyond his/her reasonable control (including, but not limited to, delays in other persons responding to communications), the Complaint Handler shall have a period of 14 Business Days in which to fully investigate the Complaint.

  4. 6.4  Customers must not directly contact any staff member who forms a part of their Complaint; any communication must be done through the Complaint Handler.

  5. 6.5  If the Complaint relates to a particular staff member (Complainee), the Complaint Handler shall inform the Complainee in question about the Complaint and arrange meetings or telephone calls as required to discuss the Complaint. In such cases the Complainee should not in any way contact the Complainant directly; should the Customer contact the Complainee directly, the Complainee should respectfully refuse to discuss the matter and report the incident to the Complaint handler.

 

Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd

t/a Get Property Compliant

Registered Number: 12828156 Registered address: c/o 22-28 Willow Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1LP

ICO Registration Number: ZA787506 Email: [email protected] Phone: 01254 721976

  1. 6.6  If the Complaint Handler requires additional information or evidence in support of the Complaint, the Complaint Handler shall contact the Customer using the Customer’s preferred method of communication, stating clearly what information or evidence is required. Customers should be respectfully reminded that any delay in their response to such a request, may delay the resolution of their Complaint.

  2. 6.7  If a Customer is unable or unwilling to provide information or evidence requested under Section 6.5, the Complaint Handler must nevertheless use all reasonable endeavours to resolve the Complaint. If, however, the Complaint Handler considers that it is not possible to uphold the Complaint in the absence of the requested information or evidence, he or she may close the Complaint and inform the Customer of the outcome in accordance with Sections 6.9 to 6.12.

  3. 6.8  The Complaint Handler shall examine and evaluate the Complaint, taking full account of all relevant statements, information, evidence and circumstances and shall maintain full objectivity and fairness at all times.

  4. 6.9  Subject to the exceptions in Section 6.9.1, During the investigation of the Complaint, the Complaint Handler shall have access to all records, information and staff that may be necessary to enable him/her to carry out an impartial and thorough investigation.

6.9.1 Access to the following records and/or information is restricted and shall require the authorisation of either Mrs Tina Walsh or Mr Tony Walsh:

a)Complaints File – Both current & Archived; b)Employee Personal Files;
c)Finance Information;

  1. 6.10  Following his/her examination of the Complaint, the Complaint Handler shall reach a decision within the time period set out in Section 6.3 (subject to the exceptions noted therein).

  2. 6.11  Upon reaching a decision, the Complaint Handler shall send an Investigation Report and Recommendation for review and authorisation by Director who shall be required to respond within 2 Business Days.

  3. 6.12  In the event that the Director does not agree with the Complaint Handler’s decision and/or Recommendation under Section 6.10 he/she must give reasons for such disagreement and the Complaint Handler shall have a further 2 Business Days to revise his/her decision and/or Recommendation and resubmit it to the Director for review and authorisation. If, following resubmission, the Director still does not

 

Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd

t/a Get Property Compliant

Registered Number: 12828156 Registered address: c/o 22-28 Willow Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1LP

ICO Registration Number: ZA787506 Email: [email protected] Phone: 01254 721976

agree with the decision and/or Recommendation, the Director’s preferred decision and/or Recommendation shall be final.

  1. 6.13  Upon reaching a decision under Section 6.9 or upon receiving approval or a final decision under Section 6.10 or 6.11, as applicable, the Complaint Handler shall send an Investigation Report and Decision Letter to the Customer by first class post or by email, as appropriate. Decision Letters shall set out the decision, and shall remind the Customer of their right to escalate the Complaint to Level Two. One copy of the Investigation Report and Decision Letter should be attached to the Complaint file.

  2. 6.14  If a delay either occurs or is considered likely to occur at any stage of the Level One procedure, the Complaint Handler shall inform the Customer using the Customers preferred communication method. The Customer should be informed of the length or likely length of the delay and the reasons thereof.

  3. 6.15  The Customer shall have a time limit of 14 Business Days within which to make an Appeal if he/she wishes to escalate the Complaint to Level Two.

  4. 6.16  Upon receipt of an Appeal, the following steps should be taken within 3 Business Days by the Complaint Handler:

    1. 6.16.1  If a written Appeal is received by post, the Complaint Handler must inform the appropriate Director who will carry out the Level Two process;

    2. 6.16.2  If a written Appeal is received by email, the Complaint Handler must inform the appropriate Director who will carry out the Level Two process;

    3. 6.16.3  If an Appeal is made by telephone, the person receiving the call must request that the Appeal be submitted in writing to Mrs Tina Walsh either via post or email – Contact details for either to be provided. The person receiving the call must also inform Mrs Tina Walsh of the ‘Verbal Complaint’;

  5. 6.17  All Appeals must be forwarded to an appropriate Appeal Handler, selected in accordance with Section 7.1 within 1 Business Days.

  6. 6.18  All Appeals must be acknowledged in writing within 3 Business Days of receipt by the responsible Director. The acknowledgement should inform the Customer of their assigned Appeal Handler.

 

7. Level Two Complaints

7.1 The following staff members are qualified and eligible Appeal Handlers for Level Two Complaints:

 

Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd

t/a Get Property Compliant

Registered Number: 12828156 Registered address: c/o 22-28 Willow Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1LP

ICO Registration Number: ZA787506 Email: [email protected] Phone: 01254 721976

Mrs Tina Walsh, Director, email: [email protected]; Mr Tony Walsh, Director, email: [email protected];

  1. 7.2  Upon receipt of an Appeal, the Appeal Handler shall consider the Appeal and make a decision within 3 Business Days whether to:

    1. 7.2.1  Investigate the Complaint fully if it is considered to be valid, in which case the procedure should resume from Section 7.3; or

    2. 7.2.2  Dismiss the Complaint if it is considered to be invalid, in which case the Appeal Handler should inform the Customer of his/her decision in writing within 3 Business Days. If the Complaint is so dismissed, the Complaint may be dismissed in its entirety.

  2. 7.3  Subject to delays arising from circumstances beyond his/her reasonable control (including, but not limited to, delays in other persons responding to communications), the Appeal Handler shall have a period of 14 Business Days in which to fully investigate the Complaint.

  3. 7.4  Customers must not directly contact any staff member who forms a part of their Complaint; any communication must be done through the Complaint Handler.

  4. 7.5  If the Complaint relates to a particular staff member (Complainee), the Complaint Handler shall inform the Complainee in question about the Complaint and arrange meetings or telephone calls as required to discuss the Complaint. In such cases the Complainee should not in any way contact the Complainant directly; should the Customer contact the Complainee directly, the Complainee should respectfully refuse to discuss the matter and report the incident to the Complaint handler.

  5. 7.6  If the Appeal Handler requires additional information or evidence in support of the Complaint, the Appeal Handler shall contact the Customer using the Customer’s preferred method of communication, stating clearly what information or evidence is required. Customers should be respectfully reminded that any delay in their response to such a request might delay the resolution of their Complaint, as per Section 5.3.4 of Our Complaints Policy.

  6. 7.7  If a Customer is unable or unwilling to provide information or evidence requested under Section 7.5, the Appeal Handler must nevertheless use all reasonable endeavours to resolve the Complaint. If, however, the Appeal Handler considers that it is not possible to uphold the Complaint in the absence of the requested information or evidence, he or she may close the Complaint and inform the Customer of the outcome in accordance with Sections 7.9 to 7.12.

 

Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd

t/a Get Property Compliant

Registered Number: 12828156 Registered address: c/o 22-28 Willow Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1LP

ICO Registration Number: ZA787506 Email: [email protected] Phone: 01254 721976

  1. 7.8  The Appeal Handler shall examine and evaluate the Complaint, taking full account of all relevant statements, information, evidence and circumstances and shall maintain full objectivity and fairness at all times.

  2. 7.9  Subject to the exceptions in 7.9.1, during the investigation of the Complaint, the Appeal Handler shall have access to all records, information and staff that may be necessary to enable him/her to carry out an impartial and thorough investigation.

7.9.1 Access to the following records and/or information is restricted and shall require the authorisation of a Director:

a)Complaints file – Both current and archived; b)Employees Personal Files;
c)Finance information

  1. 7.10  Following his/her examination of the Complaint, the Appeal Handler shall reach a decision within the time period set out in Section 7.3 (subject to the exceptions noted therein).

  2. 7.11  Upon reaching a decision, the Appeal Handler shall send an Investigation Report and Recommendation for review and authorisation by an appropriate Director who shall be required to respond within 2 Business Days.

  3. 7.12  In the event that the appropriate Director does not agree with the Appeal Handler’s decision and/or Recommendation under Section 7.10 he/she must give reasons for such disagreement and the Appeal Handler shall have a further 2 Business Days to revise his/her decision and/or Recommendation and resubmit it to the appropriate Director for review and authorisation. If, following resubmission, the appropriate Director still does not agree with the decision and/or Recommendation, the appropriate Director’s preferred decision and/or Recommendation shall be final.

  4. 7.13  Upon reaching a decision under Section 7.9 or upon receiving approval or a final decision under Section 7.10 or 7.11, as applicable, the Appeal Handler shall send an Investigation Report and Decision Letter to the Customer by first class post or by email, as appropriate. Decision Letters shall set out the decision. The Customer shall also be reminded of their right to seek External Resolution of their Complaint. One copy of the Investigation Report and Decision Letter should be attached to the Complaints file.

  5. 7.14  If a delay either occurs or is considered likely to occur at any stage of the Level Two procedure, the Appeal Handler shall inform the Customer using the

Customer’s preferred communication method. The Customer should be informed of the length or likely length of the delay and the reasons thereof.

 

Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd

t/a Get Property Compliant

Registered Number: 12828156 Registered address: c/o 22-28 Willow Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1LP

ICO Registration Number: ZA787506 Email: [email protected] Phone: 01254 721976

 

8. Confidentiality and Data Protection

  1. 8.1  All Complaints, Appeals, evidence and other information gathered, held and processed under this Complaints Handling Procedure shall be treated with the utmost confidence at all times. Such information may be shared with staff of Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd only to the extent required to resolve the Complaint in question in accordance with this Complaints Handling Procedure.

  2. 8.2  In the event that the details of a Complaint are to be used for training or quality improvement purposes, in which case they will be shared with other staff of Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd beyond the scope of this Complaints Handling Procedure, the relevant Customer’s express permission must first be sought using that Customer’s preferred contact method. Personal details (that is, anything that may be used to identify the Customer) shall be removed from all information so used.

  3. 8.3  All personal information collected by Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd (including, but not limited to, Customers’ names and contact details) shall only be collected, used and held in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 and Our Customers’ rights under that Act, as detailed and embodied in Our Data Protection Policy.

 

9. Procedure Review and Responsibility

  1. 9.1  Overall responsibility for this Complaints Handling Procedure and the implementation thereof lies with Mrs Tina Walsh, Director.

  2. 9.2  This Complaints Handling Procedure shall be reviewed regularly at intervals of not more than 12 months and shall be updated as required.

  3. 9.3  This Complaints Handling Procedure was adopted on 1st March 2016.

  4. 9.4  This Complaints Handling Procedure was last reviewed on 13th February 2022.

 

Professional Sourcing Compliance Ltd

t/a Get Property Compliant

Registered Number: 12828156 Registered address: c/o 22-28 Willow Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1LP

ICO Registration Number: ZA787506 Email: [email protected] Phone: 01254 721976