Medway Property Matters views complaints as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future, as well as a chance to put things right for the person or organisation that has made the complaint.

Our policy is:-

• To provide a fair complaints procedure which is clear and easy to use for anyone wishing to make a complaint
• To publicise the existence of our complaints procedure so that people know how to contact us to make a complaint
• To make sure everyone at Medway Property Matters knows what to do if a complaint is received
• To make sure all complaints are investigated fairly and in a timely way
• To make sure that all complaints are, wherever possible, resolved and that relationships are repaired
• To gather information which helps us to improve what we do

Definition of a complaint

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, about any aspect of Medway Property Matters.

Where complaints come from

Complaints may come from tenants, councils or landlords or members of the public who live local to our properties.

A complaint may be received verbally, by phone, by email or in writing.

Confidentiality

All complaint information will be handled sensitively, telling only those who need to know and following relevant date protection requirements.

Responsibility

Overall responsibility for this policy and its implementation lies with the owner but will be overseen by the Office Manager.

Review

This policy is reviewed regularly and updated as required

Adopted on 29^th December 2016

Last reviewed 29^th December 2016

Publicised contact details for complaints

Written complaints may be sent to Medway Property Matters at 241 Dale Street, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6QP or by email at info@medwaypropertymatters.com

Verbal complaints may be made by telephone to 07496252408 or in person to any of Medway Property Matters ’s staff.

Receiving complaints

Complaints may arrive through channels publicised for that purpose or through any other contact details or opportunities the complainant may have,

Complaints received by telephone or in person need to be recorded and the person receiving the complaint should:

• Write down the facts of the complaint
• Take the complainant’s name, address and telephone number
• Note down the relationship of the complainant to Medway Property Matters ie; tenant, landlord etc.
• Tell the complainant we have a complaints procedure and will follow it
• Tell the complainant what will happen next and how long it will take
• Where appropriate, ask the complainant to send a written account by post or email so that the complaint is recorded in the complainants own words

Resolving complaints

Stage One

In many cases, a complaint is best resolved by the person responsible for the issue being complained about. If the complaint has been received by that person, they may be able to resolve it swiftly and should do so if possible and appropriate.

Whether or not the complaint has been resolved, the complaint information should be passed to the office manager within one week.

On receiving the complaint, the office manager records it in the complaints log. If it has not already been resolved, they delegate an appropriate person to investigate it and take appropriate action.

If the complaint relates to a specific person, they should be informed and given a fair opportunity to respond.

Complaints should be acknowledged by the person handling the complaint within a week. The acknowledgement should say who is dealing with the complaint and when the person complaining should expect a reply. A copy of the complaints procedure should be attached.

Ideally complainants should receive a definitive reply within four weeks. If this is not possible, because for example, an investigation has not fully been completed, a progress report should be sent with an indication of when a full reply can be expected.

Whether the complaint is justified or not, the reply to the complainant should describe the action taken to investigate the complaint, the conclusions from the investigation, and any action taken as a result of the complaint.

Stage Two

If the complainant feels that the problem has not been satisfactorily resolved at Stage One, they can request a complaint is reviewed further. At this stage the complaint will be passed to the Business Owner.

The request for Owner level review should be acknowledged within one week or receiving it. The acknowledgement should say who will deal with the case and when the complainant can expect a reply.

The business owner may investigate the facts of the case themselves or delegate a suitably senior person to do so. This may involve reviewing the paperwork of the case and speaking with the person who deal with the case at stage one.

If the complaint relates to a specific person, they should be informed and given a further opportunity to respond.

The person who dealt with the original complaint at stage one should be kept informed of what is happening.

Ideally complainants should receive a definitive reply within four weeks. If this is not possible for example because an investigation has not been fully completed, a progress report should be sent with an indication of when a full reply can be expected.

Whether the complaint is upheld or not, the reply to the complainant should describe the action taken to investigate the complaint, the conclusions from the investigation, and any action taken as a result of the complaint.

The decision taken at this stage is final, unless the business owner decides it is appropriate to seek external assistance with resolution.

Variation of the complaints procedure

The procedure may vary for good reason. This may be necessary to avoid a conflict of interest, for example, a complaint about a specific person should not be dealt with by that person but delegated to the next senior person to deal with.

Monitoring and learning from complaints

Complaints are reviewed annually to identify any trends which may indicate a need to take further action.