Complaints procedure

A complaint is defined as an expression of dissatisfaction. Before you submit a complaint, please check to see if there is a more appropriate route for dealing with your concerns.

How to complain about a social housing provider (landlord)

To complain about a landlord please see the Information for social housing tenants page.

How to appeal against our regulatory decisions

For guidance on which decisions made by the Regulator of Social Housing you can appeal, and how to appeal, see our How to appeal against our decisions page.

How to contact us

By mail:

By email: enquiries@rsh.gov.uk

By telephone: 0300 124 5225. Choose option 3

How we handle complaints about RSH

Your complaints will be handled quickly, effectively and in a fair and honest way. We treat all complaints in confidence. We are committed to protecting your privacy and the security of your personal data. Please read our privacy notice to find out more about how we do this.

Where someone complains orally, we will make a written record and provide a copy of it within 3 working days. Well acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days of receipt. We will respond to you as soon as possible and within 40 working days. If the investigation into your complaint will take longer, youll be kept informed of the progress of the case.

When we receive a complaint about a service provided by RSH, these go through a three-stage process:

Stage 1

The complaint is managed by the team to which the complaint relates. You should complain no later than 3 months after you became aware of the problem or should reasonably have become aware of it.

Stage 2

If youre unhappy with the way that we handled your complaint at stage 1 you can escalate it for an independent review of the original complaint. The review will be carried out by a different team to the one that handled the stage 1 review. You should submit your complaint within 3 months of receiving a response to stage 1.

Stage 3

If youre still unhappy with our response you can refer it to the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, who will carry out an independent review. If you wish to make a referral toCEDRyou should do this as soon as possible, asCEDRmay not be able to consider the matter if there is undue delay in referring the matter to them. CEDRwill be able to provide guidance to you on the timescales that apply.

If you are still not satisfied, you can ask your MP to take your complaint to the independent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to review the handling of your complaint.

Accessibility

In accordance with our duties under the Equality Act 2010, on request, the RSH must make reasonable adjustments so that complainants do not face undue difficulties in contacting us. We will offer appropriate help to enable people to use this complaints procedure effectively. For example, if a complainant feels more comfortable talking to someone about their complaint, a RSH staff member can write a note and check with the complainant that it covers all the issues they want to raise.

Unreasonably persistent or vexatious complainants

We are committed to providing clear and prompt responses to people who contact us, and to dealing appropriately with information supplied to us about registered providers.

We understand that the circumstances leading to someone approaching RSH may have been upsetting or distressing, and that behaviour may be out of character. However, some individuals who contact us are so angry and/or persistent that their behaviour results in unreasonable demands on, or behaviour towards our staff.

Our approach to dealing with unacceptable behaviour, where complainants become unreasonably persistent or vexatious, is outlined on our Service standards page. This policy will only be applied when all other courses of action have been exhausted and only under limited circumstances.

How to make a data protection complaint

If you believe that your personal data has been handled incorrectly, you have the right to raise a data protection complaint. In the first instance, you should contact us directly using the details provided on this page, clearly outlining your concerns and including any relevant information to help us investigate.

How we handledata protectioncomplaints aboutRSH

Your complaintwill be handled quickly, effectively and in a fair and honest way. We treat all complaints in confidence.Your complaint will beprocessed byour Data Protection,InformationAccessand Complaints (DPIAC)Team.If your complaint relates to a matter a DPIAC officer has already handledfor example a subject access request, it will be reviewed by a different authorised officer to ensureitis considered independently.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and the security of your personal data. Please readourprivacy notice to find out more about how we do this.

Wellacknowledge receipt of your complaint within5working days of receipt.

We aim to provide a full outcome to your data protection complaint within 40 working days of receipt.If the investigation into your complaint will take longer,youllbe kept informed of the progress of the case.

Verifying Your Identity

We do not usually need formal identification tolook intoa data protection complaint. In most cases, we canproceedusing the information you provide in your complaint.

However, there are some situations where wemay need to verify your identitybefore we can continue. This helps us make sure we are sharing personal data with the correct person and protects your privacy.

When we may ask for ID

We may request proof of identity if:

• we have not dealt with you before, and we cannot confirm your identity frompreviouscorrespondence or ourrecords;

• we need to discuss or confirm personal information in detail as part of theinvestigation;

• we need more information tolocatethe correct records linked to yourcomplaint;

• you are acting on someone elses behalf, and we must confirm your authority torepresentthem.

What documents we may ask for

If we do need to verify your identity, we will ask for the minimum necessary, and we will explain what we need and why.

You may be asked to provide:

One primary identity document:

• a valid driving licence; or

• a valid passport.

Plusone supporting document:

• a recent bank or building societystatement;

• a recent utilitybill;

• another acceptableproofofaddressdocument.

If you are acting on someones behalf

If you aresubmittinga complaint for another person, we may also ask for evidence of your authority to act for them. This may include:

• an appropriate powerof attorney; or

• asigned letter of authorityfrom the person yourepresent.

How to appeal

If you are still not satisfied, you canmake a complaint to the InformationCommissioneror get advice from theICO.

ICO

• Telephone: 0303 123 1113

• Textphone: 18001 0303 123 1113 - Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm- Find out about call charges