Complaints Handling

RESIDENTIAL ESTATE AGENTS & LETTING AGENTS COMPLAINTS POLICY

1. Definitions
   • In this Complaints Policy the following expressions have the following meanings:

2. Purpose of this Complaints Policy
   • Paul Stripp Estate Agent welcomes and encourages feedback of all kinds from our customers. If you have a Complaint about our services, our customer service, or about our staff, not only do we want to resolve it to your satisfaction but we also want to learn from it in order to improve our business and customer experience in the future.
   • It is our policy to resolve Complaints quickly and fairly, where possible without recourse to formal investigations or external bodies. In particular, the aims of this Complaints Policy are:
     • To provide a clear and fair procedure for any customers who wish to make a Complaint about Paul Stripp Estate Agent, our services, our customer service, or about our staff;
     • To ensure that everyone working for or with Paul Stripp Estate Agent knows how to handle Complaints made by our customers;
     • To ensure that all Complaints are handled equally and in a fair and timely fashion;
     • To ensure that important information is gathered from Complaints and used in the future to avoid such a situation arising again.

3. What this Complaints Policy Covers
   • This Complaints Policy applies to the provision of services by Paul Stripp Estate Agent, to our customer service and to our staff.
   • For the purposes of this Complaints Policy, any reference to Paul Stripp Estate Agent also includes our employees, agents and subcontractors.
   • Complaints may relate to any of our activities and may include (but not be limited to):
     • The quality of customer service you have received from Paul Stripp Estate Agent;
     • The behaviour and/or professional competence of our staff;

• The following are not considered to be Complaints and should therefore be directed to the appropriate [person] OR [department]:
  • Matters concerning contractual or other legal disputes;
  • Formal requests for the disclosure of information, for example, under the Data Protection Act;

4. Making a Complaint
   • All Complaints, whether they concern our services, our customer service, or our staff, should be made in one of the following ways:
     • By email, addressed to Paul Stripp the Director, info@paulstrippestateagent.com; and requesting the complaints form

• When making a Complaint, you will be required to provide the following information in as much detail as is reasonably possible:
  • Your name, address, telephone number and email address (We will contact you using your preferred contact method as your Complaint is handled);
  • If you are making a Complaint on behalf of someone else, that person’s name and contact details as well as your own;
  • If your Complaint relates to a particular property we are dealing with, the property details;
  • If you are making a Complaint about a particular member of staff, the name and, where appropriate, position of that person;
  • Further details of your Complaint including, as appropriate, all times, dates, events, and people involved;
  • Details of any documents or other evidence you wish to rely on in support of your Complaint;
  • Details of what you would like Paul Stripp Estate Agent to do to resolve your Complaint and to put things right. (Please note that whilst we will make every reasonable effort to accommodate such requests, we are not bound to take any action beyond that which we may be contractually or otherwise legally obliged to take.)
  • <<Insert additional information or remove as appropriate>>.

5. How We Handle Your Complaint
   • Paul Stripp Estate Agent operates a two-stage complaints handling procedure. Following our Complaints Procedure, our aim is to always resolve Complaints to your satisfaction at Level One without further recourse to Level Two.  If you are not satisfied at the end of Level One, you may escalate your Complaint to Level Two.  If you are still not satisfied at the end of Level Two, Complaints may progress to External Resolution [or be referred to our Professional Body] as detailed below.
   • Level One:
     • Upon receipt of your Complaint, the Director identified above in Section 4.1 will log the Complaint in our Complaints log and will acknowledge receipt of it in writing within 3 working days, giving you a Complaint Reference.
     • When we acknowledge receipt of your Complaint we will also provide details of your Complaint Handler. This may be the Director to whom your original Complaint was directed (as above) or your Complaint may be assigned to another appropriate member of our team.
     • If your Complaint relates to a specific member of staff, that person will be informed of your Complaint and given a fair and reasonable opportunity to respond. Any communication between you and the staff member in question should take place only via the Complaint Handler and we respectfully ask that you do not contact the staff member in question directly concerning the Complaint while we are working to resolve it.
     • If we require any further information or evidence from you, the Complaint Handler will contact you as quickly as is reasonably possible to ask for it. We ask that you use reasonable efforts to supply any such information or evidence quickly in order to avoid delaying the complaints handling process.  If you are for any reason unable to provide such information or evidence we will use all reasonable efforts to proceed without it, however please be aware that we will not ask for further information or evidence unless we consider it important to the successful resolution of your Complaint.
     • We aim to resolve Level One Complaints within 15 working days. However in some cases, particularly if your Complaint is of a complex nature, this may not be possible. If this is not possible for any reason you will be informed of the delay, the likely length of the delay and the reasons for it.
     • At the conclusion of the Level One complaints procedure, regardless of the outcome, we will provide you with full details of our investigation, our conclusions from that investigation, and any action taken as a result. You will also be reminded of your right to appeal our decision and escalate the complaint to Level Two in the form of an Appeal.
   • Level Two:
     • If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint at Level One, you may appeal the decision within 5 working days, and have the complaint escalated to Level Two. Appeals are handled by Paul Stripp Director.
     • Appeals, quoting your original Complaint Reference, should be directed to your original Complaint Handler who will forward the request to an appropriate Appeal Handler. Receipt of Appeals will be acknowledged in writing within 3 working days.  When we acknowledge receipt of your Appeal we will also provide details of your Appeal Handler.
     • If your Complaint relates to a specific member of staff, that person will be informed of your Appeal and given a further opportunity to respond. Any communication between you and the staff member in question should take place only via the Appeal Handler and we respectfully ask that you do not contact the staff member in question directly concerning the Complaint while we are working to resolve it.
     • If we require any further information or evidence from you, the Appeal Handler will contact you as quickly as is reasonably possible to ask for it. We ask that you use reasonable efforts to supply any such information or evidence to us quickly in order to avoid delaying the complaints handling process.  If you are for any reason unable to provide such information or evidence we will use all reasonable efforts to proceed without it, however please be aware that we will not ask for further information or evidence unless we consider it important to the successful resolution of your Complaint.
     • We aim to resolve Level Two Complaints within 15 working days, however in some cases, particularly if your Complaint is of a complex nature, this may not be possible. If this is not possible for any reason you will be informed of the delay, the likely length of the delay and the reasons for it.
     • At the conclusion of the Level Two procedure, regardless of the outcome, we will provide you with full details of our investigation, our conclusions from that investigation, and any action taken as a result. Our decision at this stage is final, subject to your right to seek External Resolution of your Complaint.
     • As we are a member of The Property Redress Scheme you, as a service user, have the right to seek External Resolution of your Complaint from that redress scheme if you are not satisfied with the outcome of your Level Two Complaint.
   • External Resolution:
     • If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your Complaint at Level Two you may refer your Complaint to [The Property Redress Scheme]. Any such referral must be made within 6 months of receipt of our final decision.
     • For details of their complaint and conflict resolution mechanisms, please contact them by post at Premiere House, 1^st Floor, Elstree Way, Borehamwood, WD6 1JH, by telephone on 0333 321 9418, by email at info@theprs.co.uk, or via their website at www.theprs.co.uk.
     • Please note that [The Property Redress Scheme] may decline to deal with Complaints from certain types of customer.
   • [Referral to Professional Body:
     • Paul Stripp Estate Agent is a member of the Professional Body. If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your Complaint at Level Two you may (either as an alternative to or in addition to seeking External Resolution) complain in writing to PRS at Premiere House, 1^st Floor, Elstree Way, Borehamwood, WD6 1JH.
     • Please note that the Professional Body will only be able to consider Complaints relating to a breach of its rules of conduct.]

6. Confidentiality and Data Protection
   • All Complaints and information relating thereto are treated with the utmost confidence. Such information will only be shared with those staff members of Paul Stripp Estate Agent who need to know in order to handle your Complaint.
   • We may ask for your permission to use details of your Complaint (with your personal details removed) for internal training and quality improvement purposes. If you have given such permission, you may revoke it at any time by contacting Paul Stripp Director, whose details are provided above in Section 4.1.
   • All personal information that we may collect (including, but not limited to, your name and address) will be collected, used and held in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and your rights under that Act.

7. Questions and Further Information

If you have any questions or require further information about any aspect of this Complaints Policy or about our Complaints Procedure, please contact Paul Stripp, Director by email at info@paulstrippestateagent.com.

8. Policy Responsibility and Review
   • Overall responsibility for this Complaints Policy within Paul Stripp Estate Agent and the implementation thereof lies with Paul Stripp the Director.
   • This Complaints Policy is regularly reviewed and updated as required.
   • This Complaints Policy was adopted on 27/08/2021.
   • This Complaints Policy was last reviewed on 27/08/2021.