Complaints do arise. We all make mistakes. When this happens, the National Consumer Council (NCC) wants people to let us know immediately what has gone wrong so we have the opportunity to apologise and put things right as quickly as possible — preferably on the spot. If you remain dissatisfied and would like to register a formal complaint, this short note sets out the steps to take.

More generally, the NCC is accountable for its activities through the Annual Review, Annual Report and Accounts and Corporate Plan, available free-of-charge on request. Our Chief Executive is held accountable for the design and operations of our complaints system. We will report annually to our Board on the formal complaints we receive, the conclusions reached and any action taken as a result. Board papers are available on our website — www.ncc.org.uk — with hard copies available on request.

Our complaints procedure is designed to be fair, accessible, simple and quick. Please let our complaints officer, Dawn Muspratt, know if you have any suggestions for improving it.

Please note that we cannot provide services directly to individual consumers — for instance, we are not able to answer individual queries or take up individual cases, although where possible we do try to suggest other sources of help or information.


How to make a complaint

If you think we have failed to meet appropriate standards, or you are dissatisfied with some other aspect of our work, we want to hear about it. Please let us know, using any method that's convenient for you — in person, by phone, fax, e-mail, in writing or on audio-tape. Please don't hesitate to ask us for help if you need it or if you are unsure about anything to do with making a complaint.

However you choose to make your complaint, we will treat it seriously. If we consider that is well-founded, we will act immediately to resolve the problem and — to the best of our ability — prevent it happening again.

All complaints are handled in line with the following procedure. If you feel at any point that the procedure is not being followed, please tell our Acting Chief Executive, Philip Cullum.


Informal resolution

Complaints can often be resolved immediately and informally — and we will aim to do this wherever possible. If you have already been dealing with someone at the NCC, start by contacting that person and putting the problem to them.


Formal procedure — Stage one

If the matter cannot be resolved immediately and you would like to make a formal complaint, please contact our complaints officer, Dawn Muspratt. She will acknowledge your complaint within three working days and carry out a full and fair investigation. She will let you know the result of her enquiries within 15 working days of you putting your complaint. She will tell you what she has investigated, and how we will try to put things right.


Formal procedure — Stage two

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of stage one, please contact our Acting Chief Executive, Philip Cullum. He will look into your complaint again.

Your request for will be acknowledged within three working days of receiving it. Philip will respond in full within 15 working days, giving details of what he has done and the results of his enquiries.

If your complaint relates to Philip, it will be handled by the NCC's Chair.

Review stage

If you are still not satisfied that we have done all we can to resolve your complaint after it has gone through all the NCC's internal stages, you can refer the matter to the Parliamentary Ombudsman (also called the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration). The Ombudsman is completely independent of the NCC and will investigate how we have handled your complaint.

If you want to complain to the Ombudsman, you must tell an MP about your complaint and ask him/her to refer it to the Ombudsman. It is usual to approach your own constituency MP in the first instance — your local library or citizens advice bureau can give you your MP's details.

You can get more information about how to complain to the Parliamentary Ombudsman by contacting the following helpline — 0845 015 4033 — or by writing to:

The Parliamentary Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London SW1P 4QP

The Parliamentary Ombudsman's website also contains information about how to complain — http://www.ombudsman.org.uk