Complaints Handling Procedure

As a regulated RICS firm, we have in place a Complaints Handling Procedure (CHP), which meets the regulatory requirements. Our CHP has two stages. Stage one gives our firm the opportunity to review and consider your complaint in full. We will try to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction. If you are not happy with our response, you will have the opportunity to take your complaint to stage two. Stage two gives you, the client, the opportunity to have your complaint reviewed and considered by an independent redress provider, approved by RICS.

Stage One

If you have spoken to us about your complaint, please put the details of your complaint in writing. We ask that you put your complaint in writing to make sure that we have a full understanding of the reasons for your complaint. Please send your written complaint to:

Morgan Allen FRICS

Morgan Allen Property Surveyors
162-168 High Street
Rayleigh, Essex, SS6 7BS
07585 300033
morgan@morganallen.co.uk
www.morganallen.co.uk

We will consider your complaint as quickly as possible, and will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 7 days. If we are not able to give you a full response, we will update you within 28 days.

Stage Two

If we are unable to agree on how to resolve your complaint then you have the opportunity to take your complaint to an independent redress provider, as approved by the RICS Regulatory Board. We have chosen to use the following redress providers:

For Consumer Clients:

Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR)
International Dispute Resolution Centre, 70 Fleet Street
London, EC4Y 1EU
020 7536 6060
surveyors@cedr.com
www.cedr.com

For Business-to-Business Clients:

RICS Dispute Resolution Service (DRS)
55 Colmore Row
Birmingham, B3 2AA
020 7334 3806
drs@rics.org
www.rics.org/dispute-resolution-service

Complaints Log Guidance

Information that should be included and why

RICS provides a sample complaints log which documents the type of information firms should consider recording. If the sample log is not appropriate for the firm's needs, additional information should be added to the existing log, or a new log developed taking into consideration any additional information that should be included.

A complaints log should be in place to demonstrate the tracking and management of a complaint; demonstrate what actions have been taken and when; identify any training needs and reduce the number of complaints a firm or individual receives.

Recommendations

Below are some suggestions to take into consideration when creating or recording information in a complaints log.

Complainant Details

Full details of the complainant should be included within the complaints log. These should include the contact name, postal address, email address, telephone and/or fax number. It may also be useful to record any impairments or special circumstances which should be taken into consideration when progressing the complaint.

Dates

To demonstrate how timely a firm is dealing with complaints, the dates of when the complaint was received and when any actions are carried out should be included, i.e. each time the complainant was contacted, when action or investigation took place, when the matter was referred to a redress scheme and/or insurers etc.

Complaints handler and reference numbers

Where more than one person handles complaints, it may be useful to include the name of the person dealing with the complaint for ease of reference. A reference number should also be allocated to the complaint to make it easier to locate the file.

Relevant Person

The complaints log should clarify what the complaint is about, i.e. firm or an individual, to establish if there are any training needs, or whether internal processes need amending to reduce the number of complaints received.

Description of complaint

Complaints logs should always include a description of the complaint, detailing what the complaint is about and ensuring that all correspondence is in writing. It should also be established if there have been a number of complaints about a particular area of work or about a particular individual which may need addressing further.

Investigation and outcome

Complaints logs should outline what outcome has been reached through investigation of the complaint and what action will be/has been taken. Details of whether the matter has been referred to insurers, independent redress etc. should be included. It should also be noted whether the complainant has been informed in writing of the outcome and what the next step is should they not agree with the actions taken.

Further action

Consideration should be given as to whether any insights have been gained from the investigation of a complaint in order to reduce the number of complaints received or prevent a similar situation arising again. This could include noting any potential areas of training that could be offered; amendments to policies and procedures; individual training needs; and notification to insurers and/or redress providers.