Complaints policy and procedure for Communicourt Intermediaries
1.0 Introduction
Communicourt welcomes feedback on the service that Communicourt Intermediaries provide.
Complaints concerning significant professional misconduct or incompetence of a Communicourt Intermediary are likely to be resolved through the formal complaint procedure. Other complaints, not relating to matters of professional conduct, can be handled through informal means. Communicourt reserves the right to determine the appropriate route for each complaint.
This complaints policy and procedure sets out how all complaints, both informal and formal, are to be handled.
A complaint may be brought for a number of reasons, including professional misconduct or deficient performance. The Communicourt Intermediary Codes of Practice and Ethics refer to the conduct and standards expected of Intermediaries operating through Communicourt.
Communicourt will not investigate any complaint made against a person(s) who is not a Communicourt employee.
If the complaint concerns an issue for which other procedures exist (for example if it warrants a police investigation) then it will be dealt with under those procedures rather than as a complaint. Communicourt reserves the right to report the complaint to a relevant professional body and suspend these procedures pending a resolution of the issue by that professional body.
All complaints should, whether formal or informal, be reported to Communicourt within 30 days of the incident taking place. However, under exceptional circumstances (for instance where a complaint could not be brought within this timeframe for reasons of legal or other proceedings) these will be considered.
1.1 What is a Complaint
A Complaint may relate to any issue or concern you have regarding an act, omission, or decision by Communicourt that requires a response, written or verbal.
Communicourt takes any expression of dissatisfaction seriously and, should a complaint arise, we will endeavour to offer a satisfactory resolution as quickly as possible. Any feedback provided is a valuable resource for us to improve the services we provide.
Informal complaints
Communicourt is committed to providing the highest possible standard of service, however, there may be occasions when you feel you have cause for complaint. If you have a query or wish to raise a concern or complaint regarding our services, we recommend that you contact our Customer Service Team who will work with you to find a fast and effective solution.
Depending on the nature of your complaint, this may be able to be resolved over the telephone; however, most informal complaints are resolved within 3 working days of the complaint being acknowledged. If your complaint requires further investigation, Communicourt will inform you of this in writing as soon as this is known.
1.2 Making an Informal Complaint
If you have a query or wish to raise a dispute or complaint regarding our services, you should contact our Customer Service Team. This should be addressed to admin@communicourt.co.uk, or in writing to:
Communicourt Ltd
Trigate
210-222 Hagley Road West
Oldbury
B68 0NP
Alternatively, you can call 0121 663 0931 from Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 4:45pm. Colleagues will ensure the complainant:
• Will be taken seriously
• Will receive a compassionate response by a trained and competent member of staff
• Is informed that appropriate action will be taken and the details of the required action, where appropriate
The complainant should set out the precise nature of the complaint and include full and specific details of the complaint, including the complainant’s name and full contact details. The complainant should keep a copy of this and all other relevant correspondence.
We request that any details regarding your complaint are kept confidential while we seek a resolution, which will allow us the best opportunity to resolve your complaint.
Communicourt will acknowledge its receipt of an informal Complaint within 1 working day of it being received. Should the complaint be about a general matter, Communicourt may be able to respond immediately.
If, having spoken to a member of the Customer Service Team, your query or complaint is not resolved, you may request that this is escalated to a manager or supervisor. They will investigate your issue and will aim to call you back within 1 working day with a resolution. If it is not possible for us to resolve this within 1 working day, we will advise you of this. If you are still not satisfied, either the complainant or Communicourt may initiate a move to the Formal Complaints Procedure.
1.3 Formal Complaints
These are complaints that we have been unable to resolve informally.
1.4 Making a Formal Complaint
All formal Complaints should be addressed to admin@communicourt.co.uk, or in writing to:
Communicourt Ltd
Trigate
210-222 Hagley Road West
Oldbury
B68 0NP
Alternatively, you can call 0121 663 0931 from Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 4:45pm. Colleagues will ensure the complainant:
• Will be taken seriously.
• Will receive a compassionate response by a trained competent member of staff.
• Is informed that appropriate action will be taken and the details of the required action, where appropriate.
The complainant should set out the precise nature of the complaint and include full and specific details of the complaint, including the complainant’s name and full contact details. The complainant should keep a copy of this and all other relevant correspondence.
We request that any details regarding your complaint are kept confidential while we seek a resolution, which will allow us the best opportunity to resolve your complaint.
Communicourt will acknowledge its receipt of a formal Complaint within 1 working day of it being received.
In circumstances where we need to identify you before discussing the complaint further with you, we may request identification before we can proceed. e.g. If a complaint is made directly by the service user and not thought the Commissiong body
The standard timeframe to investigate formal complaints is 10 days, however, for a complex complaint we may request additional time to issue our response. The individual investigating will inform the complainant of this in writing as soon as this is known.
For complaints that relate to specific actions or an issue relating to the professional conduct or competence of an Intermediary, there is likely to be a need for further investigation to establish the facts. Communicourt will decide whether an investigation is appropriate and what form this should take.
Stage 1 – Complaint Verification
Communicourt will seek to establish the nature of the complaint and the background to it. This will involve contact with the parties involved to assess and ascertain whether the complaint can be resolved informally. If that is the case, Communicourt will propose an appropriate resolution.
Stage 2 – Full Investigation
If the complaint cannot be resolved through an informal process, it will then proceed to be investigated through the Formal Complaints Procedure.
Professional Conduct or Competence of an Intermediary
Complaints received against an Intermediary are to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis depending on their nature, and suspension of the Intermediary concerned would be considered on an on-going basis as the investigation proceeds. If, at any point during the investigation, Communicourt felt that the interests of service users would not be served by the Intermediary being allowed to continue to practice, then the Intermediary would be suspended. Communicourt’s decision is final on this matter and suspension may be lifted pending the outcome of the investigation.
A full investigation should be completed within 7 working days, unless there are circumstances which require a longer period of investigation. The complainant will be informed in writing should more time be required, and an indication of the likely additional time needed will also be communicated.
Communicourt will decide whether the complaint should be upheld or not and the complainant informed within 3 days of the investigation being completed. Such reports are not intended for publication.
General Service Complaints
A full investigation should be completed within 10 working days, unless there are circumstances which require a longer period of investigation. The complainant will be informed in writing should more time be required, and an indication of the likely additional time needed will also be communicated.
Communicourt will decide whether the complaint should be upheld or not and the complainant informed within 3 days of the investigation being completed. Such reports are not intended for publication.
In relation to all complaints, we record all telephone and email communications. In the event of a dispute as to the contents of any such communication, reference will be made to such records which, in the absence of any contrary evidence, shall be decisive.
2.0 Time Period for Making a Complaint
All complaints should, whether formal or informal, be reported to Communicourt within 30 days of the incident taking place to allow us the best opportunity to resolve your complaint. However, under exceptional circumstances (for instance where a complaint could not be brought within this timeframe for reasons of legal or other proceedings) these will be considered.
Whilst Communicourt will make every reasonable effort to resolve informal and formal complaints as soon as possible, should we be unable to contact the complainant, Communicourt reserve the right to close the complaint within 7 days of our last attempt to contact the complainant.
3.0 Alternative Dispute Resolution
Any party may appeal by setting out the reasons why they are not satisfied with either the investigation or the decision of Communicourt; this must be made within 10 working days of the decision. This notice of appeal should be made either via email to admin@communicourt.co.uk, via telephone on 0121 663 0931, or in written form (if necessary, on behalf of the Complainant):
Chair of Communicourt Quality Assurance Board (CQAB)
Communicourt Ltd
Trigate
210-222 Hagley Road West
Oldbury
B68 0NP
The Chair of the CQAB will acknowledge the receipt of an appeal within 1 working day.
The Chair of the CQAB will consider the notice of appeal and determine whether there are good grounds for believing either that the matter has not been investigated in a fair and reasonable manner or that the decision(s) is unreasonable in the light of all the circumstances of the complaint.
If the Chair considers that there are such grounds, an Appeal Complaints Panel will be appointed within 5 working days of the receipt of the appeal being acknowledged.
All parties will be subsequently informed of the appointment of an Appeal Complaints Panel within 2 working days of it being appointed.
The Appeal Complaints Panel will comprise 3 members and, wherever practicable, will include a member with a working knowledge of law and the criminal justice system. The decision of the Chair of the CQAB on membership of the Appeal Complaints Panel will be final.
The Appeal Complaints Panel will meet and will consider the complaint, the report on the investigation of the complaint and the CQAB decision. The Appeal Complaints Panel may consider such representations from others as it deems appropriate, and, in particular, may receive representations in person or in writing from any person regarding the subject of the complaint.
Any party may request to make an oral representation to the Appeal Complaints Panel by informing the CQAB of this within 5 working days of being notified that the Appeal Complaints Panel has been appointed. In such circumstances, any party may arrange for a professional representative to accompany them to the meeting of the Appeal Complaints Panel.
In so far as is possible, the Appeal Complaints Panel will meet within 10 working days of all parties being informed of its appointment.
Having considered the matter, they may:
• Dismiss an appeal (with or without varying the remedial action thought to be necessary to resolve the issue)
• Issue a new report (with or without varying the remedial action thought to be necessary to resolve the issue
• Terminate the complaints procedure by dismissing the complaint
The Appeal Complaints Panel’s action will be communicated to all parties within 4 working days of it meeting and this will be confidential to the complainant and the CQAB.
At the stage at which the Appeal Complaints Panel’s decision has been communicated to all parties, the issue will be considered closed, and no further consideration of the complaint will follow.
However, if you are still not satisfied with the with either the investigation or the decision of the CQAB, please inform us within 10 working days of the decision. This notice of appeal should be made either via email to admin@communicourt.co.uk, via telephone on 0121 663 0931, or in written form (if necessary, on behalf of the Complainant):
Chair of CQAB
Communicourt Ltd
Trigate
210-222 Hagley Road West
Oldbury
B68 0NP
The Chair of the CQAB will acknowledge the receipt of an appeal within 24 hours and will then escalate your complaint to The Authority (HMCTS). Should further escalation be required HMCTS will do so by contacting The Witness Intermediary Scheme’s Quality Assurance Board for further investigation/resolution.
4.0 Persistent and Unreasonable Contact
Persistent contact may be due to individuals having genuine difficulty, and it is important to ensure that this process is fair, and the person’s interests have been taken into consideration.
This guidance covers all contacts, enquiries, and complaints. It is intended for use as a last resort and after all reasonable measures have been taken to try to resolve an issue.
To assist the organisation to identify when a person is persistent or unreasonable, this guidance sets out the action to be taken.
4.1 Definition of Persistent and Unreasonable Contact
There is no one single feature of unreasonable behaviour. Examples of this behaviour, however, may include individuals who:
• Persist in pursuing an issue when the procedures have been fully and properly implemented and exhausted.
• Do not clearly identify the precise issues that they wish to be investigated, despite reasonable efforts by staff, and where appropriate, the relevant independent advocacy services could assist to help them specify their complaint.
• Continually make unreasonable or excessive demands in terms of process and fail to accept that these may be unreasonable e.g. insist on responses to complaints being provided more urgently than is reasonable or is recognised practice.
• Continue to focus on a ‘trivial’ matter to an extent that it is out of proportion to its significance. It is recognised that defining ‘trivial’ is subjective and careful judgment must be applied and recorded.
• Change the substance of a complaint/concern or seek to prolong contact by continually raising further issues in relation to the original contact. Care must be taken not to discard new issues that are significantly different from the original issue. Each issue of concern may need to be addressed separately.
• Consume a disproportionate amount of time and resources.
• Harass, abuse, threaten or use aggression (written or verbal, as outlined in the MCA/Malicious Communications Act 1988) or actual physical violence towards staff.
• Repeatedly focus on conspiracy theories and/or will not accept documented evidence as being factual.
• Make excessive telephone calls or send excessive numbers of emails or letters to staff.
4.2 Our Stance on Persistent and Unreasonable Contact
Where an individual’s contact has been identified as persistent and/or unreasonable, Communicourt will write to the complainant informing them that:
• Their complaint/concern is being investigated, and a response will be prepared and issued as soon as possible within the timescales agreed, or;
• Their complaint/concern has been responded to as fully as possible and there is nothing to be added.
• That repeated contact regarding the complaint/concern in question is not acceptable and that further calls will be terminated, and;
• Any further correspondence will not be acknowledged.
