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Complaints Policy

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION – COMPLAINTS HANDLING PROCEDURE [IF128]

  1. POLICY
    • iCar Finance UK is committed to ensuring achievement of customer requirements and enhancing their satisfaction. Where we do not achieve these commitments and complaints arise, we will:
  2. Enhance customer satisfaction by creating a customer-focused environment that is open to feedback (including complaints), resolving any complaints received and enhancing the organisation’s ability to improve its product and customer service;
  3. Ensure top management involvement and commitment through adequate acquisition and deployment of resources, including personnel training;
  4. Recognise and address the need and expectations of complainants;
  5. Provide complainants with an open, effective and easy-to use complaints process;
  6. Ensure that each complaint is acknowledged to the complainant immediately and addressed promptly in accordance with their urgency.
  7. Ensure that data related to complaints and complainants is kept confidential.
  8. Analyse and evaluate complaints in an equitable, objective and unbiased manner in order to improve the customer service quality;
  9. Audit the complaints handling process;
  10. Review the effectiveness and efficiency of the complaints handling process.
    • iCar Finance UK will maintain this policy in line with quality management principles.
  1. DEFINITIONS
    • Complainantperson, organisation or representative making a complaint
    • Complaint expression of dissatisfaction made to an organisation, related to its products or services, or the complaints-handling process itself, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected.
    • ProcedureiCar Finance UK Complaints Handling Procedure
  1. RESPONSIBILITIES
  • Managing Director and Operations Manager
  • Establishment, maintenance, implementation and continual improvement of complaints handling policy
  • Ensure the promotion of awareness of the complaints-handling process and the need for customer focus;
  • Provide the Complaints Handling Process upon request from a complainant or other interested party;
  • Receipt, recording and acknowledgement of complaint.
  • Reporting to the Director / Manager the receipt of the complaint.
  • Investigation of complaint.
  • Establishment and implementation of corrective and preventive actions.
  • Ensuring that action is taken to correct a problem, including corrective and preventive action.
  • Maintain suitable records.
  • Management
  • Treat customers in a courteous manner and promptly respond to their complaints or direct them to the Director or Operations Manager.
  • Be aware of the complaints handling procedure.
  • Report to the Director / Operations Manager of any complaints received from customers or other interested parties whilst on customers premises.
  • Cooperate with any investigatory process and the investigator.
  1. PROCEDURE
    • Communication of Complaints Handling Procedure
      • The Complaints Handling Procedure is available on request from the Director or Operations Manager. Information on how to obtain the Procedure is provided in quotations and service agreements to customers.
      • Communication of any complaint is going to be made free of charge with no cost to the complainant except their standard network rate if the complaint is made via phone.
    • Receipt of Complaint
      • Upon reporting of the initial complaint, the complaint shall be recorded with supporting information and a unique Complainant’s Identifier Code. The Complainant’s Identifier Code being CIC plus the Site Number (e.g. 170210), date of receipt (e.g. 140621) and if required event number (e.g. 1,2) e.g. CIC-170210-1406-21-1.
      • The record of the initial complaint should identify the information necessary for the effective handling of the complaint including the following:
  1. Details of Complainant, including contact details
  2. Description of the service related to the complaint e.g. Security Guards/Customer Services/ Managers name, procedure, event, service level agreement
  3. Problem encountered, including date, time, people, processes involved;
  4. Requested remedy;
  5. Proposed due date for a response;
  6. Enclosure – any records supplied by the complainant as evidence of the event that led to the complaint being raised
  7. Immediate action taken (if any).
    • Should the initial complaint not contain the above information (or sufficient information to provide for the initial assessment (4.5) the Complainant shall be requested by e-mail (or other suitable means) to provide the information lists in 4.2.2.
  • Tracking of complaint
    • The complaint shall be tracked from initial receipt through the entire process until the complainant is satisfied or the final decision is made. An up-to-date status shall be made available to the complainant upon request and at regular intervals, at least at the time of pre-set deadlines.
    • Any complainant shall be allowed access to the complaints handling process at any reasonable point or time.
  • Acknowledgement of Complaint
    • Receipt of each complaint shall be acknowledged by the Director / Operations Manager to the complainant immediately by phone and / or e-mail.
    • Time limits for the response to complaints shall be provided. Typically this should be within 24 hours [4.7].
  • Initial Assessment of Complaint
    • After receipt, each complaint shall be assessed in terms of criteria such as severity, security implications, safety implications, complexity, impact and the need and possibility of immediate action.
  • Investigation of Complaints
    • Every reasonable effort shall be made to investigate all the relevant circumstances and information surrounding a complaint. The level of investigation shall be commensurate with the seriousness, frequency of occurrence and severity of the complaint.
    • Investigations shall be undertaken in an impartial manner avoiding any bias in dealing with the complainant, the person complained against or the organisation. Emphasis should be placed on solving the problem and not assigning blame (See 5.7).
    • Those complained against shall be treated objectively. This implies
  • informing them immediately and completely on any complaint about their performance before they are interviewed,
  • giving them the opportunity to explain the circumstances and allowing then appropriate support, and
  • keeping then informed of the progress in the investigation of the complaint and the result.
  • Separating complaints handling procedures from disciplinary procedures.
    • Response to complaints
      • Following an appropriate investigation the Director / Operations Manager shall offer a response. Any corrective or preventive actions shall be stated. If the complaint cannot be immediately resolved then the plan to lead to the effective resolution of the complaint shall be provided, with the objective of seek resolution as soon as possible.
    • Communicating the Decision
      • The decision of action taken regarding the complaint, which is relevant to the complainant of the personnel involved, should be communicated to them as soon as the decision or action is taken.
      • Regardless of any decision made in relation to a complaint, the complainant shall be made aware of their right to contact the Financial Ombudsman and any determinations made by the Ombudsman will be effectively applied in future complaint handling.
    • Closing the Complaint
      • If the complaint accepts the proposed decision or action, then the decision or action shall be carried out and recorded.
      • If the complaint rejects the proposed decision or action, then the complaint should remain open. This shall be recorded and the complaint shall be informed of alternative forms of internal and external recourse available.
      • The Director / Operations Manager shall continue to monitor the progress of the complaint until all reasonable internal and external options if recourse are exhausted or the complainant is satisfied.
  1. MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT
    • Collection of Information
      • All records shall be retained to ensure they remain identifiable, legible and retrievable. This includes the unique Complainants Identification Code (4.2.1).
      • All complaints shall be logged on the IF122 Improvement and Corrective Action Register with the source identified as the Complainants Identification Code (4.2.1).
      • Retention of records shall generally be in electronic format. Any hardcopy record shall be scanned and retained electronically. Hardcopies may be retained in circumstances approved by the Director / Operations Manager.
      • Records relating to complaints shall be held on secure areas of the company security system. Security may be through authorised access to electronic folders or drives, or through document password protection.
      • All records shall be retained for 7 years.
      • Retention of records and information shall be conformant with the Data Protection Act and shall not be released without the prior permission of the relevant individual or organisation.
      • There will be an annual publication available to the public of the number of complaints received, resolved and being processed and a quarterly publication for staff members.
    • Analysis and Evaluation of Complaints
      • The complaint shall then be classified and then analysed to identify systematic, recurring and single incident problems and trends, and to help eliminated the underlying causes of complaints.
      • In the event of a recurring issue in any complaint, customers will be offered redress who may not have complained about that issue as well as those that did.
    • Satisfaction with the Complaints Handling Process
      • Following the closure of the complaint (4.9) Complainants should be contacted to determine their level of satisfaction with the complaints handling process. Contact shall be by phone, e-mail or client meeting (informal or formal).
      • The time duration between the determination of satisfaction and the closure of the complaint may be based on a period of time that allows the determination of the adequacy of corrective and preventive actions to have been suitable to prevent reoccurrence.
      • The consumer will have 6 months from the final response, in regards to the complaint, to send their response to the decision and six years from the event they are complaining about for iCar Finance to consider the complaint as per the guidelines.
    • Monitoring of the Complaints Handling Process
      • Continual monitoring of the complaints handling process and the resources required and information collection shall be undertaken by the Director / Operations Manager.
    • Auditing of the Complaints Handling Process
  • The performance of the complaints handling procedure shall be audited at least twice per year. The audit shall provide information on
  1. Process conformity to complaints handling procedures, and
  2. Process suitability to achieve complaints handling objectives

Audit procedures are as per iCar Finance UK-IF126-SOP09.

  • Management Review
    • Director and Operations Manager shall review the complaints handling process on a regular basis in order to
  1. ensure its continuing suitability, adequacy, effectiveness and efficiency,
  2. identify and address instances of nonconformity with health, safety, environmental, customer regulatory and other legal requirements,
  3. identify and correct service deficiencies,
  4. assess opportunities for improvement and the need for changes to the complaints handling process and services offered, and
  5. evaluate potential changes to the complaints-handling policy and objectives.
  • Management Review shall be conducted as per iCar Finance UK-IF126-SOP09 and recorded on form IF123.
  • Continual Improvement
    • iCar Finance UK will continually improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the complaints handling process through the establishment and implementation of corrective and preventive actions. Actions should eliminate the causes of existing and potential problems leading to complaints in order to prevent recurrence and occurrence, respectively.
    • The complaints handling procedures should be separated from disciplinary procedures. Where disciplinary is identified as an appropriate action, an objective review of company procedures should also be undertaken to ensure that iCar Finance UK processes did not cause or allow the employee to cause the nonconformity.