Compliments, Complaints and Comments

Let Us Know How We Are Doing

We are committed to providing a high quality service to all our customers, so let us know how we’re doing.

Complaints, Comments, Compliments

Birmingham Civic is committed to providing a high-quality service to all our customers. However, despite our best efforts, things can sometimes go wrong. If you have a complaint, please tell us so we can put things right.

We would also like to hear from you if you feel we have done something well or would like to make a comment or suggestion. This will help us improve our services.

What is a complaint?

A complaint is distinct form a Service Request.

“A service request is a request form a resident requiring action to be taken to put something right”.

A complaint arise when the resident expresses dissatisfaction with the response to their service request, even if the handling of the service request remains ongoing.

We follow the Housing Ombudsman’s complaint handling code which provides the following definition of a complaint:

“A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the organisation, its own staff or those acting on its behalf, affecting an individual resident or a group of residents”.

We want you to tell us when:

We fail to deliver a service.
You are unhappy with the standard of our service, or a service delivered on our behalf by another company, for example, a maintenance contractor.
You are unhappy with our response when you request a service.
You have received poor customer service or discrimination from a member of our staff or from a company acting on our behalf.
You are unhappy about our policies or how they have been used.
You feel you have been treated unfairly.

Please note we only deal with a complaint regarding an issue which is less than 6 months old, and we will not accept a complaint on a matter that is already subject of legal proceedings or has previously been dealt with under the complaints procedure.

Who can complain?

You can make a complaint if you are:

A tenant.
Applying for a home with us.
Any other person or organisation affected by our services.

You may appoint someone to deal with a complaint on your behalf and you may bring someone with you to any meetings held to discuss your complaint.

How do I make a complaint?

You can make a complaint in any way you choose:

Visit – our office and give details of your complaint to a member of staff.
Email – send to bcha@bcivic.co.uk
Letter – write to us at 230-234 Wheelwright Road, Erdington, B24 8EH
Phone – 0121 382 5105

Click the button below to view and print a form you can complete using your computer, then email or post to us.

Complaints can be made to any member of staff. Try and speak to the person you would normally deal with, or a Housing Manager if they are unavailable.

What happens if I complain?

We will do our best to sort things out straight away. We recognise there will be times when things are more complex and we need more time, if this is the case we will let you know and keep you informed of progress.

We will:

Make it easy for you to complain
Take your complaint seriously and investigate it in an impartial manner
Give you a named contact for your complaint.
Offer extra support if you need it, for example interpreting
Acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and provide a Stage 1 decision within 10 working days of receipt of the complaint
Keep the complaint confidential as far as possible with information only disclosed if necessary to properly investigate the matter
Consider all the information and evidence carefully
Explain the reasons for decisions made and the details of any remedy to put things right
Resolve complaints at the earliest stage and as quickly as possible
Acknowledge mistakes we have made and apologise for any failures and inform you of the action we are taking to prevent the issue happening again
Offer an appropriate remedy and tell you if you are entitled to compensation under our compensation policy
Let you know your options if you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint

Formal Complaints Procedure

Stage One

Once we receive your complaint this will be referred to the Housing Manager designated to deal with complaints who will

Acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days of the complaint being received.
Respond fully to you within 10 working days from of the complaint being acknowledged. If this proves impossible we will let you know we need further time to consider the complaint – this should not exceed a further 10 working days unless there is a good reason in which case we will provide a full explanation and a timescale for a response.
The response will give the outcome of your complaint, the reasons for any decisions and any proposals to put things right. Any remedy offered will have regard to the detriment caused to you as a result of our failure. We will inform you if you are entitled to compensation under our compensation policy.
The response will tell you how to appeal against the decision if you are dissatisfied with the outcome.

Stage Two

If you are unhappy with the outcome at Stage One, you may progress your complaint to Stage two. Request for Stage 2 will be acknowledge and logged within 5 working days of the escalation request being received.

Your appeal will be passed to the Chief Executive. They will review all the information from Stage one and speak to you to see if a resolution can be reached. The Chief Executive will respond within 20 working days from the date you requested a review of the Stage one decision. If this proves impossible they will let you know that further time is needed – this should not exceed a further 10 working days unless there is a good reason in which case they will provide a full explanation and a timescale for a response.

The Chief Executive will inform you in writing of the outcome, the reasons for any decisions and any proposals to put things right. Any remedy offered will have regard to the detriment caused to you as a result of our failure. The Chief Executive will tell you your options if you are not satisfied with the outcome.

What if I am not happy with the Stage two decision?

If you are still not satisfied with the outcome at Stage two, you will have exhausted Birmingham Civic’s internal complaints procedure.

We will tell you what options you have to take your complaint to an external body. This can be a designated person such as your local councillor or MP as well as the Housing Ombudsman service. http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/

The Housing Ombudsman is unable to consider cases until eight weeks after our final response. During that period you may, if you wish, contact a “Designated Person” who may be able to help you to resolve the complaint or can refer your complaint on to the Housing Ombudsman Service. A designated person can be an MP or local councillor or a tenant panel. Birmingham Civic Housing Association does not currently have a designated tenant panel, you can find your local councillor and Member of Parliament using the link below.

Click on the link below to find your local councillor and Member of Parliament.

https://www.writetothem.com/

Satisfaction Monitoring

An annual complaints performance and service improvement report will be submitted to the Board of Management.

The annual complaints performance and service improvement report and the Board of Management’s response will be published on the website.

The Chief Executive is responsible for complaint handling. The Chief Executive will review all complaints to identify opportunities for learning and ways to improve the service.

We review all complaints to identify areas for improvement and we use this learning to revise our policies and procedures, train staff and improve communication and record keeping.

We share the lessons learnt with tenants through our annual report.

Unreasonable and Persistent Complaints

We reserve the right not to deal with a complaint if it is being pursued in an unreasonable manner. Use of offensive or abusive language will not be tolerated.

Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code

We follow the requirements of the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code.

You can also contact Housing Ombudsman personally via:

Website: www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk
Email: info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk
Phone: 0300 111 3000
Fax: 020 7831 1942

Write to:
Housing Ombudsman Service
PO Box 1484
Unit D
Preston
PR2 0ET

Compliments or Comments

All feedback is welcomed! It helps us put right any problems and to do more of what you like.

If you feel we have done something well or you feel one of our staff deserves a special thank you, we
want to hear from you.

Letting us know about something we have done well will help to inform and guide us to continue
providing an excellent service. See the contact details at the bottom of this section to see how to get in touch.

Click the button below for our Compliments Form, you can print the form and post it to us or download it to your computer to complete and email to us.