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COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

It is our aim to always exceed your expectations and we hope you never find cause for dissatisfaction during your time with us. However, should it be the case that you find yourself unhappy with an aspect of our service we encourage you to make us aware, and give us the opportunity to put it right.

This policy outlines our complaints procedure, the type of complaints it will handle, timescales for addressing, investigating and responding, the process you should expect us to work to and where to go should we not be able to resolve your complaint, or should you not find a satisfactory resolution to your complaint.  

This complaints procedure is aimed at resolving complaints quickly and satisfactorily and further improving the quality of our service.

WHAT OUR COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE COVERS

Our complaints procedure covers complaints which you may wish to make with regard to the services which we have provided to you, which include:

  • Manual errors or mistakes
  • Unexplained delays
  • Staff behaviour / conduct
  • Unpaid refunds
  • Breach of contract / terms of business

HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT

We recognise that complaining about a service or a person we have been communicating with doesn’t always feel nice. Our priority is that you feel comfortable making a complaint and bringing our attention to something which has failed expectation. 

If you are unhappy with the service we have provided to you for any of the above reasons, you can make a complaint by whatever medium you feel comfortable; if you wish to speak to someone to express your dissatisfaction you can speak to any manager across the firm, or if you would prefer to express your dissatisfaction in writing you may post or email. You can write to the Department Manager or the Complaints Manager.

Whichever way you make your complaint, we will acknowledge receipt of this via email and/or in writing within 5 working days. We will explain what investigation will take place and give you an estimated timescale, so you know when you should expect an outcome of any investigation. We will also request confirmation on how you wish to be contacted, should we require additional information from you to support our investigation.  You can find contact details for calling, emailing and writing at the end of this policy.

If you are making a complaint we recommend you have the following information to hand, as this will allow your complaint to be handled quicker:

  • Your name and reference number
  • Contact details – including preferred time and method of contact
  • Nature of your complaint – including dates /timescales involved
  • Names of any employees dealing with / involved in your complaint
  • Any relevant additional information

HOW WE WILL ACTION YOUR COMPLAINT

Our employees are trained to handle your complaint sensitively and efficiently. We will listen to you and seek to understand your experience in detail. We will ask questions and will ensure we have the full picture before taking action or providing a response / resolution.

We may also need to further investigate your complaint, this might mean we need to speak with employees involved, check system notes, current process, or listen to call recordings before we can action the complaint.

We aim to have your complaint resolved to your satisfaction at the earliest opportunity and within 30 days of receiving your complaint.

In any event we will respond to your complaint in full within 8 weeks, in line with guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority and Financial Ombudsman Service.

Should it not be possible for the Team Leader / Department Manager to resolve your complaint we will escalate it to our Compliance Department.

Once all information has been considered you will be contacted by letter or email to confirm whether the company accepts, either completely, or to some degree your complaint and explains our findings from the detailed investigation.

Where applicable, you will be advised of what steps the company will take to put right the complaint and ensure that the same problem does not reoccur.

Where more detailed investigation is required the process may take longer than 4 working weeks. In any event we will respond to your complaint in full within 8 weeks.

FINANCIAL OMBUDSMAN SERVICE

If you are not satisfied with our final response, you may be eligible to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which can be contacted on the below;

The Financial Ombudsman Service
 Exchange Tower
 London E14 9SR

complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk 

We hope that you will be agreeable to, and accept the outcome of our investigation. If this should not be the case, you remain free at all times to seek an independent form of advice.

CONTACT

You can call us on: 01625 801007

You can write to: Abbotts Complaints Department, 

Sandfold House

Sandfold Lane

Levenshulme

Manchester

M19 3BJ