Complaints
All complaints matter and provide valuable feedback. From time to time we might not meet the high standards that we set ourselves. In these cases, you may want to make a complaint about the service that you’ve received.
What is a complaint?
The Housing Ombudsman Code defines a complaint as:
"An expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the organisation, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting an individual resident or group of residents.” - The Housing Ombudsman
This means that you might want to complain if:
- We haven’t met a published Service Standard or taken action within agreed timescales
- We’ve not acted in line with our policies and procedures to a tenant's request
- Our own colleagues, agents or contractors have behaved in an unacceptable way.
How do I make a complaint?
The independent Housing Ombudsman provides support to help you raise a complaint.
You can also take a look at our complaints leaflet for some more information.
Click here to view our complaints policy or make a complaint by clicking the button below...
What happens when I make a complaint?
We resolve as many complaints as possible, directly with you and our frontline teams, to find a quick resolution.
If you’re unhappy with any of our services:
- We'll acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days of us receiving your complaint.
- We'll thoroughly investigate your complaint fairly and inline with our policies and procedures, as well as following the Housing Ombudsman complaint handling code.
- We aim to resolve all complaints within 10 working days of us acknowledging them. In some circumstances, we'll need a little longer. If this is the case, we'll always let you know why and how much more time we need.
- You'll get a full written response to your complaint once we have completed our investigation. This will outline what we've done and the decisions we've made. It will also include any outcomes, including compensation, and explain what you do next.
If you’re unhappy with the outcome of our investigation, your complaint can be escalated to a formal review.
Here's what will happen:
- Your review request will be passed on to a Senior Manager to oversee the investigation review.
- Your review request will be acknowledged within 5 working days of your request.
- The reasons for the review will be discussed with you to help us understand what you feel has been left outstanding.
- We aim to resolve all reviews within 20 working days of us acknowledging them. In some instances we may need a little longer, but we will always let you know why and how much more time we need.
- At the end of the review you will get a full written response to your formal complaint review. It will also include any outcomes including compensation and explain what you do next.
In a formal review of your complaint we review how the complaint was handled, check that our policies and procedures were followed and consider what impact it had on you.
The Independent Housing Ombudsman (IHO)
The Housing Ombudsman have published a new Complaint Handling Code to make sure landlords respond to complaints effectively and fairly.
They expect landlords to carry out regular self-assessment against this Code – you can download our self-assessment here.
If you’re unhappy with the final outcome you’ve received from our internal process you can refer your complaint to a ‘designated person’, such as your MP.
They’ll decide if they’re going to contact us on your behalf or refer your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Service. There’s more information about using a ‘designated person’ on their website.
How do I contact them?
Email: info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk
Online: Housing ombudsman make a complaint webpage
Telephone: 0300 111 3000
By letter: Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET
Why do we collect personal data of individuals?
This form is for customers and service users to make a complaint about our service. We'll use the information to support with the complaint.
Injuries and accidents
Our complaints policy will allow us to recognise that you may have experienced a certain amount of inconvenience and impact upon yourself. However, it is important to note any medical or injury-related issues, inclusive of mental health are not part of something that can be considered.
To find out more, click here to visit our public liability and injuries claims webpage.
Reasonable adjustments
We understand that some customers may have difficulty communicating a complaint and/or participating in the complaint process, as such we will always make reasonable adjustments, enabling customers to report their concerns and engage in the process.
To find out more, please take a look at our complaints policy.
Complaints Annual Report
Our Complaints Annual Report sets out our complaints performance over the last year and actions we're taking to further improve our performance.
You can read our report, and our Board's response, below.
Midland Heart Complaints Annual Report Stats Final
pdf - 2603Kb
Board Response To Complaints Annual Report
pdf - 60Kb
