We are an independent organisation. It is our job to sort out complaints fairly and as quickly as possible.

If we can accept your complaint, and you agree that we should do so, we'll ask the company you're complaining about for the information about what has happened so far.  We'll decide as soon as possible whether your complaint is one that we can deal with and let you know.

How long it takes us to come up with a solution depends on how complicated the complaint is and how quickly we can get to the facts.  To help us with this you should send us copies of all the information you have about your complaint when you return the signed complaint  form. We will be unable to return any original documents you send to us. During our process you will only hear from us if we need more information.

When we have reached a decision, we will write to you with our provisional conclusion. If you and the service provider  accept this as a settlement of the dispute, it will become the final decision and the company must put in place any remedy that is called for.

I don't agree with the findings in your report (the provisional conclusion) what should I do ?

If you or your provider  believes that we have made a significant error in fact or you have important new evidence which would have a material effect on our decision, you should send this to us in writing so the ombudsman can consider it when making the final decision. Any comments we recieve will be passed to the ombudsman to take into account when making the final decision.

When we have finished this process, we will send you and the company a copy of the final decision.

Debt during a dispute

If you are complaining about a bill and you are having difficulty paying the full outstanding amount you should contact the company to let them know. If the ombudsman decides to make an award or to correct a charge this would be credited to you at the end of our process. If we accept your complaint we can ask the compant not to pursue you for the disputed charges but it may be unwilling to do this. You should try and continue to pay for your undisputed on going charges.