Complaints

Our Complaints Procedure

Our experienced and qualified staff strive to maintain the highest standards of customer service. However there may be occasions when you feel you have cause for complaint. If so, we have internal procedures for handling your complaint promptly and fairly.

Who to contact first

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of the Society's service your first point of contact should be the member of staff concerned or, if you prefer, their manager. You can do this by telephone, letter, fax, email or in person - whichever method suits you.

We aim to resolve your complaint within 2 working days whenever possible. If we cannot do this, we will send you a written acknowledgement of your complaint promptly and keep you informed of progress.

We will investigate the complaint and undertake to assess it fairly. When we respond we will provide you with a summary of the complaint and our investigation of the complaint, our decision to reject or uphold the complaint and offer redress (compensation) or remedial action as appropriate. Where we offer remedial action or redress we undertake to provide it promptly, once it has been accepted by you. We will also advise you of the name and job title of the senior manager to contact if you are unhappy with the answers you have been given.

If you are still unhappy

A senior manager will investigate your complaint personally and provide you with a detailed response. If the senior manager cannot do this within 7 days you will be told why and be kept informed of progress. A final response will be sent to you within 8 weeks of the date when we first received your complaint. If the complaint is still ongoing, we will write to you to let you know the reasons for the delay. All final responses are approved by the Chief Executive before they are sent.

Financial Ombudsman Service

We are committed to resolving complaints whenever possible through our internal complaints procedures. However, once a final response has been sent, it is the end of the Society's internal complaints procedure. If a matter cannot be resolved satisfactorily, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. This is an independent adjudicator who can investigate and make a decision about outstanding disputes. The services are free to customers. A copy of the explanatory leaflet published by the Financial Ombudsman Service is available on request and will be enclosed when we send a final response.

The contact details are:

The Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London
E14 9SR

Telephone 0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9 123
email complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
website www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Complaints about other firms

If it appears to us that your complaint relates to the activities of another financial firm, we will pass your details to them promptly and let you know who to contact.

Please click here to download a pdf of our Complaints Procedure