We need your compliments, suggestions and complaints
Our aim is to delight you with the service we provide. To ensure that we achieve this it is important that we know what you think about the services you receive.
Complaints
A complaint is usually about poor service. This could be because we have done something wrong, failed to do something we should have done or because you feel you weren’t treated in the right way.
Suggestions
A suggestion is a way of telling us how we can improve or an idea for a new service or product. We welcome suggestions as a way of improving.
Compliments
If you want to make a positive comment about something we have done, then we will treat this as a compliment. Compliments help us to identify what we are doing well and we share all compliments with the relevant member of staff or team.
Other ways to give your feedback
We want to make it as easy as possible for you to give us your feedback. You can give your feedback in a number of ways including:
Face to face, with any SLH colleague.
By telephone on 0330 303 3000
In writing to:
South Liverpool Homes
Parklands
Conleach Road
Speke
Liverpool L24 0TY
Complaints
We aim to provide an excellent service to all of our customers, however, we recognise that we may not always get things right. We value complaints as they help to highlight issues we may not have been aware of. When this happens, we will investigate and resolve the issue practically, learn from the experience and change the way we do things to ensure that it doesn't happen again.
Complaints do not include:
- First time reports of neighbour disputes or about anti social behaviour
- Where you are currently taking legal action against SLH about the same issueÂ
- A service or issue you have experienced which is over six months oldÂ
- A first time request for a repair to your home.
Who can make a complaint?
Anyone who receives a service from us can make a complaint. We understand that you may be unable, or reluctant, to make a complaint yourself. We accept complaints from advocates, for example, friends or family acting on your behalf with your permission. We will also investigate complaints from customers who wish to remain anonymous.
How do we deal with your complaint?
Tell us if you are not happy with a service you have received. We will ask you what we can do to put the situation right and try and sort the problem out straight away. Where we cannot do this or where you are not happy for us to do this, we will handle your complaint formally.
Support available from the Housing Ombudsman Service
You can contact the Housing Ombudsman at any time whilst a complaint is going through our complaints process for advice. This leaflet provides further information for you about the Housing Ombudsman and how they can help you.
Complaints procedure
Our formal complaints procedure has two stages:
- Investigation -Â We will acknowledge your complaint within two workings days and fully respond within 10 working days. The service manager or head of service will respond to your complaint.Â
- Review -Â We will acknowledge your complaint within two working days and fully respond within 20 working days. The Complaints Review Panel (which includes an SLH Board member and an SLH Director) will respond to your complaint.Â
If we can’t meet the timescales above, we will aim to tell you in advance and agree a revised date with you.
More about the complaints process
Stage 1: Investigation
At the investigation stage, we will contact you to discuss your complaint and get a clear understanding of how you would like us to put things right.
Once we understand this, we will complete investigations internally and will then contact you with our response including any improvements we have identified as a result of your feedback.
If after the investigation stage you are still unhappy, you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed but you should tell us why you remain dissatisfied and what you would like to see happen next to resolve your complaint. Your request should be made within 10 working days of the investigation response being sent.
Stage 2: Review
At this stage an appeal hearing will be arranged. The Complaints Review Panel will include an SLH Board member and an SLH Director. The role of the panel is to review the response provided at the investigation stage and determine whether it is reasonable. You will receive a written reply following the panel within 10 working days.
Housing Ombudsman
If you still don’t feel your problem has been resolved at the Complaints Review Panel, you can go directly to the Housing Ombudsman.
You can contact them at:
Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 152, Liverpool L33 7WQ
Telephone : 0300 111 3000
Email:Â info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk
www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk
Let us know what you think
Once your complaint has been resolved, we will contact you to ask if you are satisfied with the outcome of your complaint. This gives you the opportunity to let us know how you think we handled your complaint.
Learning from complaints
SLH view complaints as an opportunity to improve our services. If we have changed the way we deliver our services following your complaint, we will tell you about it. Look out for information in our newsletter and on our website about how we are using complaints to improve our services.
When does this feedback process not apply?
We will not deal with complaints where the complainant is unreasonably persistent with their contact or in raising issues with SLH. This can be very time consuming and can have a knock-on effect for other tenants who need this service. We will still respond to your enquiry, but SLH cannot deal with multiple consistent complaints from the same customer.
Further information
The Housing Ombudsman published a new Complaint Handling Code in July 2020, setting out good practice that will allow landlords to respond to complaints effectively and fairly. We have completed a self-assessment against this code which demonstrates that SLH’s complaint procedure meets these guidelines.Â
Follow Us
Visit our office
Call into our office or write to us:
South Liverpool Homes
Parklands
Conleach Road
Speke
L24 0TY