​Has your client already complained to the organisation?

​​Before coming to us, we expect people to have complained to the organisation they are unhappy with and wait for its response.

This is because we are the final stage of the complaints process, so we want to make sure that the organisation has had the chance to sort out any concerns before we look at what happened.

If your client has had a final response to their complaint and are not happy with it, you can then ask us to look into it. Occasionally we can get involved earlier, for example if we can see that somebody has already been waiting a long time to get that response from the organisation.

So when your client complains to us, we will need to know as much as possible about what has happened already. Have they made a complaint to the organisation? Have they been through all stages of the organisation’s complaints process and had a final response?

Usually the organisation will make it clear that it has given its final response - and it will often then let people know it can come to us if they are still unhappy. But if it is not clear, it is useful if you can contact the organisation to check.

If it is clear your client has had a final response and has reached the end of the local complaints process, then it is likely that the complaint is ready for us. To help us check that quickly, we need to see a copy of the organisation's final response - so please make sure your client sends it to us with their complaint.