April customer update
Welcome to our April update. This month we are focusing on complaints. You might think that we wouldn't want to encourage customer complaints, but if something goes wrong, we want to put it right. We also want to learn from complaints so that we can improve our services for everyone.
New complaints process
We have recently updated our complaints policy and procedure in line with the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code, which came into force on 1 April.
We take all complaints seriously and will always try to deal with them fairly and with empathy. We complete an annual self-assessment and report for the board where you can find more details.
How do I make a complaint?
You can make a formal complaint in any way that is convenient to you - by phone, email, letter, on social media or in person.?
Stage one
We will assign an impartial case manager who is unconnected to your issue to investigate. They will get back to you within 10 working days of the complaint being acknowledged.
We expect the vast majority of complaints to be resolved at this stage, but if you are unhappy with the outcome you can ask to move to stage two. You do not have to give us a reason or provide any more evidence.
Stage two
At stage two a different case manager will look into what happened during stage one to see if there is anything we have not dealt with properly or fairly. They will provide you with a final response within 20 working days of the complaint being escalated.
One of our complaint specialists will contact you to check you are satisfied with the outcome and all outstanding issues have been addressed, before closing the complaint.
Housing Ombudsman
If you are still dissatisfied you can pass your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman. Find out how to contact them via our website
What have we learned?
We want to make sure we learn from every complaint, and implement positive change wherever possible.
As an example, we received a number of similar complaints about the fitting of new kitchens. Customers were usually happy with the kitchen itself, but frustrated by 'snagging' issues.
We now ensure a member of the team visits on the day of completion to check the customer is happy and pick up any minor issues, before a full sign off follows around a week later.
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Since bringing in this change we have had no further complaints on the matter.
Complaints forum
Did you know we have a group of customers who meet every quarter to review how we handle complaints?
They choose five closed, anonymised cases to assess and give a score for:
You can read their reports here.
Invitation from the customer scrutiny team
We want your help in discussing how Selwood Housing prioritise their upgrades which includes the replacement of kitchens, bathrooms, boilers and re-roofing and how they communicate this to you.
We would like to invite you to join us in one of our workshops, taking place at the Selwood Housing office, Bryer Ash Business Park, Trowbridge, BA14 8RT.
Thursday 9 May, 2pm-4pm
Wednesday 15 May, 6pm-8pm
As a thank you for attending, you can choose to receive a gift in the form of a shopping voucher or a credit to your rent account and travel expenses will be reimbursed.
Sign up here, call 01225 715934 or email [email protected] to book your place.
We hope you can join us.
The scrutiny team