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Compliments, complaints and feedback

Compliments, complaints and feedback

Delivering excellent services matters to our customers, and it matters to us too. Your compliments, complaints and feedback are important to us, as they help to shape the services we provide and put customers at the heart of everything we do. 

We’d love to hear your thoughts, whether you’ve had a positive experience, or if you think there are areas where we could improve.  

Compliments

Have you received great customer service from one of our employees or contractors? If you’d like to give them a compliment and recognise them for going above and beyond, you can nominate them for a WOW! Award by clicking on the button below. 

Nominate an employee or contractor

WOW! Awards help us to shine a light on colleagues and contractors that have gone above and beyond to deliver The Onward Difference. A judging panel regularly reviews nominations, and our Senior Leadership Team will award winners with certificates to recognise their excellent customer service.  

You can also leave a compliment for one of our employees or contractors by: 

 

Complaints

We are committed to providing a high-quality service to the customers and communities we serve. We don’t always get things right first time and if you do have any problems, please get in touch to let us know as soon as you can. We’ll do our best to rectify the problem during the initial enquiry. 

If you feel our services haven’t been up to standard and you wish to make a complaint, please click on our frequently asked questions below. 

What is a complaint?

  • We have done something we shouldn’t have done 
  • You are unhappy with how something has been dealt with  
  • We have taken too long to respond to you  
  • You are unhappy with how a colleague, contractor, or representative of Onward has treated you  

What isn’t a complaint?

Some things are not complaints, such as:  

  • Asking us to deal with the actions of others, for example letting us know about antisocial behaviour for the first time  
  • Something that is already in court or being heard by a court or tribunal  
  • Asking for information under the Data Protection Act  
  • If you are unhappy with a decision where there is already a process for challenging that decision or an appeals process already in place 

Are there things I should consider before making a complaint?

We want to work with you to find a solution and won’t be able to investigate your complaint if it is made anonymously.  

Under normal circumstances you must make your complaint within 12 months of the event you want to complain about. In some cases, we may be able to accept a complaint outside of these timescales, but you will need to provide a reason as to why within your complaint.  

Need to report a repair, damp and mould or antisocial behaviour? You can do this by:  

  • calling 0300 555 0600 or messaging 07793 795882 on WhatsApp between 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday, and 10am – 6pm on Wednesdays 

You can also find further advice by clicking on the buttons below. 

Reporting a repair

REPORTING damp and mould

REPORTING antisocial behaviour

What happens when I make a complaint?

If we think your enquiry meets the definition of a complaint as defined by the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, or if you ask us to log your enquiry as a complaint, we will record this on our system. 

There are two stages to our complaint handling process: 

Stage one 

When you contact us, our Customer Resolutions Team will be in touch in five working days. They will:  

  • Introduce themselves 
  • Explain the stage one complaints process 
  • Ask questions to help us understand your complaint and try to agree a solution  
  • Agree how we will update you on progress 
  • Reply within ten working days to explain the outcome and next steps 
  • If we need more time, we will let you know and agree when we will respond  
  • If we need to take further action to resolve the complaint, for example carrying out a repair, we will keep in regular contact until all the work is complete and you’re happy with the outcome.  

We will write to you to explain our understanding of your complaint, what we have found and what we will do to make this right. We will only close the complaint when all actions are done. 

Stage two 

If you’re still unhappy after stage one, you can ask for a review by a Director. This is stage two of our complaints process.  

We will investigate to understand why you remain unhappy and to identify what you would like to happen next to resolve your complaint. When you ask for a review, a Director or representative will: 

  • Introduce themselves 
  • Explain the stage two complaints process 
  • Ask questions to help them understand the complaint 
  • Agree with you how we will update you on progress 
  • If we need more time, we will let you know and agree when we will respond  

We will write to you to explain our understanding of your complaint, our findings and what we will do to make this right. We will only close the complaint when all actions are done. 

This is the final stage in our complaint handling process. 

For further information, please visit our Complaints Resolutions Policy by clicking on the button below. An easy-read version is also available. 

Complaints Resolution Policy

Easy-read COMPLAINTS RESOLUTION POLICY

You can also view our self-assessment of the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code by clicking the button below. 

self-assessment

How do I make a complaint?

Anyone that already gets a service from Onward, asks for one, or is affected by what we do can make a complaint. You can do this for someone, for example if you’re a family member, friend, advocate, or adviser. 

You can make a complaint by: 

  • calling 0300 555 0600 or messaging 07793 795882 on WhatsApp between 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday, and 10am – 6pm on Wednesdays 
  • writing to Renaissance Court, 2 Christie Way, Didsbury, Manchester, M21 7QY 

When making a complaint, please let us know who you are by providing your:  

  • full name 
  • full address including postcode 
  • date of birth or contact number 

If you send a complaint to our Chief Executive or the Chair of the Board this will be sent to our Customer Resolutions Team. 

What should I do if I need help with making a complaint?

If you need help making a complaint, please get in touch with us by: 

  • calling 0300 555 0600 or messaging 07793 795882 on WhatsApp between 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday, and 10am – 6pm on Wednesdays 

If you would like to discuss your concerns with someone impartial, or if you need help with making a complaint, you can speak to a Member of Parliament, your local councillor or an advocate of your choice. 

You can also contact the Housing Ombudsman for help and support at any point during your complaint by: 

  • writing to The Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET 

What should I do if I’m unhappy with Onward’s complaints service?

The Housing Ombudsman is an independent organisation that investigates complaints. You can get in touch with them at any stage for help. They can look at your complaint if: 

  • You have been through every stage of our complaints process 
  • It’s less than 12 months after you first knew about what you wanted to complain about 
  • The issue hasn’t or isn’t being looked at by a court 

You will be asked to fill out a complaint form and give a copy of our response.  

You can get in touch with the Housing Ombudsman by:  

  • writing to The Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET 

Some of our customers get services that include providing gas and electricity. If you have complained about the gas or electricity services that we provide to you and are not happy with the outcome you can contact the Energy Ombudsman.  

The Energy Ombudsman is approved by Ofgem as an independent dispute resolution service which aims to impartially and independently resolve disputes between energy suppliers and their customers.  

You can ask the Energy Ombudsman to investigate your complaint if: 

  • You have fully exhausted our complaint handling procedure 
  • We notify you that we have been unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction within eight weeks and/or have issued you with a deadlock letter 
  • You feel that you have encountered sustained difficulty in raising your complaint with us 

You can get in touch with the Energy Ombudsman by: 

  • writing to The Energy Ombudsman, PO Box 966, Warrington WA4 9DF  

 

Feedback 

We are always looking to improve our services with the help of satisfaction surveys, customer feedback, inspections and learning from complaints. If you have any feedback about your experience of our services, or suggestions for improvement, please get in touch.   

If you would like to give us regular feedback or work with us to improve our services, why not join our Customer Engagement Community? Members help to improve the services you receive by sharing their concerns, views and ideas, as well as taking part in activities to improve your neighbourhood and local area.  

We also have a Customer Resolution Forum that independently reviews our complaint handling process to ensure effective and efficient resolutions are given to customers. They also identify areas where we can improve our services and customer experience. 

If you are interested in joining the Community or Forum, please: