Complaints and compliments
During 2019/20 Great Places
Received
111
complaints from customers
Received
136
compliments from customers
So far this year we have received a range of complaints and compliments
Informal complaints (Nip in the bud)
For long-standing Great Places customers, during the first half of the year, 181 informal complaints were resolved.
Main areas of service failure were resolved by apologising to the customer and providing additional works or services. The service level being delivered by contractors accounted for nearly 75% (49) of the informal complaints where there was a service failure and will be an area of focus going forward.
Right First Time (RFT) / Stage 1 Complaints
Over the first half of the year we received 76 formal complaints of which 46 were Right First Time complaints from Great Places customers and 30 were stage 1 complaints following the Equity region complaints process.
The reasons for complaints across the Equity region were mainly down to delays to services which accounted for 83% of the complaints logged. They were evenly spread across the Equity sub-regions, although more were from general needs customers who accounted for over 60% of complaints received.
The reasons for complaints were far more wide-ranging among the Great Places Right First Time complaints including issues relating to the repairs service and ASB.
Compliments
During the same period we received around 150 compliments relating to good service of which the majority were in relation to the actions of particular colleagues.
Learning and improvement
Over coming months we will be launching a new complaints model that seeks to improve the complaints process for our customers. This will include improving the resolution time for customers, and centralising the investigation process via a dedicated complaints team to ensure consistency, quality and prioritisation of the process.
Housing Ombudsman Complaints Handling Code of Practice
The Housing Ombudsman published a new Complaints Handling Code of Practice in July 2020 providing a framework for high-quality complaint handling and greater consistency across landlords’ complaint procedures. One of the key requirements contained within the new Code is for Landlords to self-assess against the Code by 31 December 2020 (and annually thereafter), and publish the outcome of their assessments.
The self assessment considers the following key areas:
- Definition of a complaint including exclusions
- Accessibility
- Complaints team and process
- Communication
- Cooperation with the Housing Ombudsman service
- Fairness in complaints handling
- Putting things right
- Continuous learning and improvement
We have recently completed our self assessment against the Housing Ombudsman Complaints Handling Code of Practice – please see our website for further information.