How to Complain

Find out how to make a complaint

Thinking of complaining to us?

You first need to have complained to the organisation involved, and given them chance to respond. See our video for more information:

 

Summary of the key steps to making a complaint:

1. First complain to the organisation involved

  • You must give them a chance to put things right before complaining to us

  • You should go through all stages of their complaints procedure

See our Top tips for making a complaint

2. Complain to us

  • If your problem has not been put right

  • If you have not had a response within a reasonable time. This should usually be within 12 weeks but may be longer for social care complaints that follow a statutory process

See more detail on how to complain to us

3. Be aware there are some things we cannot look at

In most cases, we cannot investigate if you have not:

  • complained to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter

  • been directly affected by the matter - we call this 'personal injustice'

4. How we deal with your complaint

  • We will take a first look at your complaint and advise on the next steps 

  • Then we will assess whether we can and should investigate

  • If we investigate, we may ask you and the organisation for more information 

  • We publish our final decisions on our website. We don’t use real names

 

Detailed information on making a complaint: