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We
invite you to let us know if you have a Comment, Compliment, or Complaint
about New Charter.
There are many ways of getting in touch:
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Our main switchboard telephone number is 0161 -331 2000.
Other telephone numbers and addresses of shops and offices are given on the 'How to Contact us' page. Please select it from the menu to your left.
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A quick email address is:
contact@newcharter.co.uk |
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You may also use the on-line contact form
'Get-in-Touch'
to send us a message.
Messages can be either a comment; or a compliment; or a complaint.
[Note:
This on-line form is also reproduced at the end of our main leaflet.]
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Click here to access this on-line form. |
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We have, however, prepared a leaflet for you: called 'How to Contact New Charter.'
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We have described our customer care commitment, how to reach us, and the details of our Complaints Procedure as well as the contact form in this leaflet.
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You can get a copy and/or read its content in two ways:
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Pick it up from any of our reception points and/or ask a member of staff for details;
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Download it here [in pdf format].
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| Our Complaints Procedure is also re-produced here for you as well: |
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| Customer Complaints Procedure |
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| If you have a concern or suggestion about a particular service, you should write or speak to a member of staff or the service manager. If there is a problem, we will try and sort it out straight away. |
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If I am not happy with the reply, what can I do? |
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We would prefer that all of our services run smoothly all the time, but unfortunately things do go wrong. We understand that there are times when you feel that we have failed to offer you good service, or we make a decision that you are not happy with. When this happens we are keen to hear of any complaints you may have. We will investigate what has happened and advise you of the outcome.
We acknowledge that you play an important role in helping us to put things right and by regularly monitoring your complaints we can identify where our service fails you and how we can improve it.
We have tried to make it easy for you to make a formal complaint. You can use our on-line Customer Contact Form or you can visit one of our shops, telephone, or send us a letter, e-mail or fax.
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How do I make a Formal Complaint?
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| There are three stages involved in making a formal complaint as described below: |
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 Stage 1:
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The first step is to make a complaint using our on-line
Customer Contact Form. We expect to confirm that we
have received your complaint within five working days.
Your complaint will be forwarded to the manager of the
service concerned.
We will send you a reply to your complaint within five working
days or if your complaint requires further investigation, we will
send you a letter stating when you can expect a fuller reply.
If your complaint concerns a Section Manager, then a member
of the Complaints Investigation Team will deal with it. These are
people who will not have been involved in the matter previously.
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Stage 2:
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If you are unhappy with the response you have received from
Stage 1, you can have your complaint considered again by a
member of the Complaints Investigation Team.
These are people who will not have been involved in the matter
previously. If a member of the Complaints Investigation Team
has been involved at Stage 1, they will not be involved in
Stage 2.
To do this, you would need to contact the Customer Liaison
Officer, by telephone or in writing, within 28 days of the response
to Stage 1.
You will be asked to state the reasons for wanting your
complaint to be considered again.
You may also meet with the Investigating
Officer. You will receive an initial response to your request within
five working days of receipt, which will tell you how your complaint
will be investigated, how to arrange an interview with the Investigating
Officer, if necessary and when you can expect to receive a detailed
response to your complaint.
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Stage 3:
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In the event that you still do not feel your complaint has been
resolved, the matter can be referred to the Complaints Review
Board. This comprises of Senior Officers of New Charter, who
will not previously have been involved in the matter, a representative
of the Board of Management and a member of New Charter +
Tenants Federation.
You will need to write to the Business Improvement Officer, within
28 days of the response to Stage 2, stating specific reasons
for wanting your complaint to be considered by the Complaints
Review Board.
Prior to the hearing you will receive copies of the papers,
which the Review Board will consider. You can make any
comments on the documents in advance of the hearing, if you
wish. You can contact the Business Improvement Officer to do this.
The Review Board will consider your complaint at a hearing. You will be advised of the date and time of the hearing and will be invited to bring a friend or representative with you. The decision of the Review Board will be sent to you within 5 working days of the hearing.
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Additional Information:
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We may need to handle complaints differently, following other procedures. This may happen, for example, if you engage the services of a Solicitor or obtain legal advice, which may result in legal action.
We will advise you as soon as possible if we are going to handle your complaint differently.
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Is there anything else I can do?
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We hope that in the vast majority of cases we will be able to resolve your complaint. In the event that you remain unhappy about the way in which your complaint has been resolved, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Service.
If you wish to make a complaint and think the Service can help
you, there are certain conditions you must meet first:
You must first make your complaint through the internal procedure
of the landlord, agent or park home, within the time limits they
stipulate, and not later than twelve months from the moment you
become aware of the problem.
That internal procedure must be completed before submitting the
complaint to the Ombudsman. The Service cannot deal with it unless
the landlord or agent is given a full opportunity to resolve the
problem directly. If you are having difficulties using the internal
procedure please let us know.
You have to submit the complaint to the Ombudsman as soon as possible
after completing the internal procedure, and not later than twelve
months afterwards.
Your complaint must be about something which the landlord or agent
has not yet resolved. The Ombudsman primarily deals with maladministration – that
is, with wrongdoing which affected you and which has not already
been addressed locally. The Ombudsman cannot punish landlords or
agents, nor can he ask them to do things if they have done nothing
contrary to required standards, or if they have already remedied
any mistake for which they were responsible.
The Ombudsman encourages a conciliatory approach to resolving housing
disputes. He will only investigate complaints when there is early
evidence of serious maladministration. Otherwise, he may recommend
instead the use of mediation or other alternative forms of dispute-resolution,
which he makes available at no extra cost.
Housing Ombudsman Service
81 Aldwych
LONDON
WC2B 4HN
Telephone No : 0845 712 5973
This is a right that you have at any stage of the complaints procedure, although the Ombudsman may request that you exhaust our complaints procedure before he becomes involved. The Ombudsman is interested in how we have handled your complaint in relation to our policies and procedures and will be looking to see if we are guilty of mal-administration.
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Independent Advice
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You also have the legal right to enforce the terms of your tenancy
or leasehold agreement, through the Courts. If you think we
are not meeting our obligations, you should seek independent
advice from a Solicitor, the Citizens Advice Bureau, Law Centres
and Housing Aid and Advice Centres.
If you consult a solicitor, you may be charged for their services.
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