Many service providers will be aware that there is currently a significant wait at the beginning of our complaints process which means both yourselves and consumers are waiting too long for an investigation to begin.
Much of our work this year has been identifying ways we can resolve this, which has led to a focus on ways in which we can support early resolution of complaints. This has had positive results so far with over 400 cases closed in the first six months of the year.
Amongst others, we have introduced three new ways of working which we want to highlight to you:
Sharing our remedy guidance once a case has been accepted. Once a case has been accepted you will receive a letter which includes links to guidance. This guidance can help you to reassess whether you have come to the right decision in your own complaints process.
When you receive the guidance it's worth checking and seeing if the guidance suggests you should have come to a different decision or remedy which may allow you to resolve the complaint yourself.
Checking if a reasonable offer has been made. At an early point case files will be checked to see has an offer been made and was it reasonable and unlikely to be bettered as a result of an investigation. If so this is a case that we can dismiss.
This means it is important that you respond to complaints and give the proper consideration to what is a reasonable remedy. If no offer has been made at first-tier we can’t use our powers to dismiss it.
Early engagement to encourage resolution. Through experience we can identify those cases where minimal engagement with both parties can resolve the complaint, perhaps to assure the consumer that an offer is reasonable or to highlight to a service provider where their initial analysis of a complaint might not have been quite right.
If you are contacted by us at an early stage of the process it is worth engaging with us to see if between us we can find a way to resolve the situation quickly.
Some of the key guidance that we will always refer service providers to can be found on the Learning Resource page. This includes:
Our approach to determining complaints. Understand the key questions we ask throughout an investigation.
Our approach to putting things right. The remedies we have the power to award including the financial bands we use.
Scheme Rules FAQ. An overview of some of the rules including providing clarity on when a case fee can be waived.
