Complaints Policy

COMPLAINTS POLICY

1. Definitions
   • In this Complaints Policy the following expressions have the following meanings:

2. Purpose of this Complaints Policy
   • Utility Advice Company Limited T/A UAC Team welcomes and encourages feedback of all kinds from our customers. If you have a Complaint about our services, our customer service, or about our employees and agents, not only do we want to resolve it to your satisfaction, but we also want to learn from it to improve our business and customer experience in the future.
   • It is our policy to resolve Complaints quickly and fairly, where possible without recourse to formal investigations or external bodies. In particular, the aims of this Complaints Policy are:
     • To provide a clear and fair procedure for any customers who wish to make a Complaint about Utility Advice Company Limited, our utility broker services, our customer service, or about our employees or
     • To ensure that everyone working for or with Utility Advice Company Limited knows how to handle a Complaint made by our customers.
     • To ensure that all Complaints are handled equally and in a fair and timely manner.
     • To ensure that important information is gathered from Complaints and used in the future to avoid similar situations in the future.

3. What this Complaints Policy Covers
   • This Complaints Policy applies to the provision of utility broker services by Utility Advice Company Limited, to our customer service and to our employees or agents.
   • For the purposes of this Complaints Policy, any reference to Utility Advice Company Limited also includes our employees or
   • Complaints may relate to any of our activities and may include (but not be limited to):
     • The quality of customer service you have received from Utility Advice Company Limited.
     • The behaviour and/or professional competence of our employees or agents.
   • The following are not considered to be Complaints and should therefore be directed to the appropriate person:
     • General questions about our utility broker
     • Matters concerning contractual or other legal disputes.
     • Formal requests for the disclosure of information, for example, under the Data Protection Act.

4. Making a Complaint
   • All Complaints, whether they concern our utility broker services, our customer service, our employees or agents, should be made in one of the following ways:
     • In writing, addressed to Matthew Finn, Director, 303 Grosvenor House, Central Park, Telford, TF2 9TW;
     • By email, addressed to Matthew Finn, Director at [email protected];
     • By telephone, 0330 090 4540.
   • When making a Complaint, you will be required to provide the following information in as much detail as is reasonably possible:
     • Your name, address, telephone number and email address (We will use your preferred contact method as your Complaint is handled);
     • If you are making a Complaint on behalf of someone else, that person’s name and contact details as well as your own.
     • If you are making a Complaint about a particular employee or agents of ours, the name and, where appropriate, position of that employee or agents.
     • Details of your Complaint including, as appropriate, all times, dates, events, and people involved.
     • Details of any documents or other evidence you wish to submit in support of your Complaint.
     • Details of what you would like Utility Advice Company Limited to do to resolve your Complaint and to put things right. (Please note that whilst we will make every reasonable effort to accommodate such requests, we are not bound to take any action beyond that which we may be contractually or otherwise legally obliged to take.)

5. How We Handle Your Complaint
   • Utility Advice Company Limited operates a two-level complaints handling procedure. Our aim is to always resolve Complaints to your satisfaction at Level One without further recourse to Level Two.  If you are not satisfied at the end of Level One, you may escalate your Complaint to Level Two.
   • Level One:
     • Upon receipt of your Complaint, the director identified above in Section 4.1 will log the Complaint in our complaints log and will acknowledge receipt of it in writing within 5 business days giving you a Complaint Reference.
     • When we acknowledge receipt of your Complaint, we will also provide details of your Complaint Handler. This may be the director to whom your original Complaint was directed (as above) or your Complaint may be assigned to another appropriate member of our team.
     • If your Complaint relates to a specific employee or agents, that person will be informed of your Complaint and given a fair and reasonable opportunity to respond. Any communication between you and the employee or agents.in question should take place only via the Complaint Handler and we respectfully ask that you do not contact the employee or agents in question directly concerning the Complaint while we are working to resolve it.
     • If we require any further information or evidence from you, the Complaint Handler will contact you as quickly as is reasonably possible to ask for it. We ask that you use reasonable efforts to supply any such information or evidence quickly to avoid delaying the complaints handling process.  If you are for any reason unable to provide such information or evidence, we will use all reasonable efforts to proceed without it, however, please be aware that we will not ask for further information or evidence unless we consider it important to the successful resolution of your Complaint.
     • We aim to resolve Level One Complaints within 15 business days, however in some cases, particularly if your Complaint is of a complex nature, this may not be possible. If this is not possible for any reason you will be informed of the delay, the likely length of the delay and the reasons for it.
     • At the conclusion of the Level One complaints procedure, regardless of the outcome, we will provide you with full details of our investigation, our conclusions from that investigation, and any action taken as a result. You will also be reminded of your right to appeal our decision and escalate the complaint to Level Two in the form of an Appeal.
   • Level Two:
     • If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint at Level One, you may appeal the decision within 5 business days of receiving the resolution details, and have the complaint escalated to Level Two. Appeals are handled by director level members of our team.
     • Appeals, quoting your original Complaint Reference, should be directed to your original Complaint Handler who will forward the request to an appropriate Appeal Handler. Receipt of Appeals will be acknowledged in writing within 5 business days.  When we acknowledge receipt of your Appeal we will also provide details of your Appeal Handler.
     • If your Complaint relates to a specific employee or agents, that person will be informed of your Appeal and given a further opportunity to respond. Any communication between you and the employee or agents in question should take place only via the Appeal Handler and we respectfully ask that you do not contact the employee or agents in question directly concerning the Complaint while we are working to resolve it.
     • If we require any further information or evidence from you, the Appeal Handler will contact you as quickly as is reasonably possible to ask for it. We ask that you use reasonable efforts to supply any such information or evidence to us quickly to avoid delaying the complaints handling process.  If you are for any reason unable to provide such information or evidence, we will use all reasonable efforts to proceed without it, however, please be aware that we will not ask for further information or evidence unless we consider it important to the successful resolution of your Complaint.
     • We aim to resolve Level Two Complaints within 20 business days, however in some cases, particularly if your Complaint is of a complex nature, this may not be possible. If this is not possible for any reason you will be informed of the delay, the likely length of the delay and the reasons for it.
     • At the conclusion of the Level Two procedure, regardless of the outcome, we will provide you with full details of our investigation, our conclusions from that investigation, and any action taken as a result. Our decision at this stage will be our full and final position.
   • Energy Complaints Process:
     • Complaints relating to our energy services will be handled in accordance with Levels One and Two outlined above.
     • If you are not satisfied with our full and final position, or 8 weeks has passed since you first made your complaint and it remains unresolved, you may refer your complaint to the Energy Ombudsman. This service is impartial and free to consumers. You may contact the Energy Ombudsmam:
       • By Post: Energy Ombudsman, P.O. Box 966, Warrington, WA4 9DF
       • By Phone: 0330 440 1624
       • By Email: [email protected]

6. Confidentiality and Data Protection
   • All Complaints and information relating thereto are treated with the utmost confidence. Such information will only be shared with those employees or agents of Utility Advice Company Limited who need to know in order to handle your Complaint.
   • We may ask for your permission to use details of your Complaint (with your personal details removed) for internal training and quality improvement purposes. If you have given such permission, you may revoke it at any time by contacting Matthew Finn, director, whose details are provided above in Section 4.1.
   • All personal information that we may collect (including, but not limited to, your name and address) will be collected, used and held in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and your rights under that Act.

7. Questions and Further Information

If you have any questions or require further information about any aspect of this Complaints Policy or about our Complaints Procedure, please contact Matthew Finn, director by post at 303 Grosvenor House, Central Park, Telford, TF2 9TW, by telephone on 0330 090 4540, or by email at [email protected].

8. Policy Responsibility and Review
   • Overall responsibility for this Complaints Policy within Utility Advice Company Limited and the implementation thereof lies with Matthew Finn, director.
   • This Complaints Policy is regularly reviewed and updated as required.
   • This Complaints Policy was adopted on 01/03/2020.
   • This Complaints Policy was last reviewed on 12/07/2023.