How to Make a Complaint

Complaints may be made in writing, by e-mail to customercare@oltonalexander.co.uk, or in any other form in respect of a regulated service that we have provided to you.

We aim to resolve any expression of dissatisfaction as soon as possible. Where this is done within 3 business days, we may choose to respond with a summary resolution communication rather than a final response. This summarises the complaint, confirms that we believe the complaint has been resolved and provides you with other key information such as your right to refer the matter to the Claims Management Ombudsman at The Financial Ombudsman and how to get in touch with them should you wish to do so.

If it takes us longer than 3 business days to resolve a complaint, we will send you a written or electronic acknowledgement of the complaint within five business days of receipt, identifying the person who will be handling the complaint for the business. Wherever possible, that person will not have been directly involved in the matter which is the subject of the complaint, and will have authority to settle the complaint.

Within four weeks of receiving a complaint, we will send you either:

• a final response adequately addressing the complaint; or
• a holding response, which explains why we are not yet in a position to resolve the complaint and indicates when we will make further contact with you.

Within eight weeks of receiving a complaint we will send you either:

1. a final response adequately addressing the complaint and outlining your right to appeal with the Claims Management Ombudsman (CMO); or
2. a response which:
   
   1. explains why we are still not in a position to make a final response, giving reasons for the further delay and indicating when we expect to be able to provide a final response; and
   2. informs you that you may refer the handling of the complaint to the Claims Management Ombudsman (CMO) if you are dissatisfied with the delay.
3. Where we decide that redress is appropriate, we will provide you with fair compensation for any acts or omissions for which we are responsible and will comply with any offer of redress that you accept. Appropriate redress will not always involve financial redress, but could involve an apology or another suitable form of redress.
4. The Claims Management Ombudsman (CMO) can investigate complaints up to six years from the date of the problem happening or within three years of when the complainant found out about the problem. If you wish to refer your complaint to the Claims Management Ombudsman this must be done within six months of our final response to your complaint.
5. If you are not satisfied with our response, or if a complaint is not resolved after eight weeks, you may refer the complaint to:

N.B. Please note complainants have 6 months from the date of our final decision to approach the Claims Management Ombudsman. We do not give consent for the CMO to review complaints after the six months have passed.

Appeals

If you are not satisfied with our decision regarding a complaint about us and you have allowed us the relevant timeframes to respond to you, you can appeal this with the Claims Management Ombudsman (CMO) at: