Feedback from our customers is very important. It helps us to put right anything that we have done wrong, and helps us learn how we can improve. We welcome all feedback but we particularly want to hear about:
- team members or services that have worked well
- how you think we could improve
- where things didn't go as well as you expected
- any complaints you have (see below for more information on this).
You can give us feedback or make a complaint by phone, email, letter, webchat, social media channels or through our customer portal My Account.
How we deal with complaints
We take complaints very seriously and have a formal, two-stage process to investigate and hopefully resolve all complaints we receive.
Every complaint is handled by our complaints officer who will investigate the complaint and offer a resolution (stage 1). If, after this stage, a customer gives us evidence that we haven't resolved things successfully, one of the customer services management team will review the complaint (stage 2).
If you have been through this two-stage process and feel that we have not handled the situation properly, you can then refer the complaint to the Housing Ombudsman. You can also get advice about complaints from the Ombudsman at any time at www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/
You can view our self-assessment for the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code by clicking here.
You can view our full complaints policy by clicking here.
Reporting on complaints
For the financial year April 2021 – March 2022 we received:
- 80 complaints that were resolved at stage 1
- 1 complaint that was resolved at stage 2
- 2 complaints that were referred to the Ombudsman
Learning from complaints and feedback
Here are some of the changes we have made in response to customer complaints and feedback over the last year.
Repairs
We have invested in some new technology making the way you manage your repairs easier. We know repairs are important to our customers and we are continuing to work on the easiest ways for repairs to be reported, managed, and completed and how we can make sure you know when your repair is being carried out.
Communication
We are implementing a new tool that will give our teams the ability to see all the interactions that you have had with Futures so whichever member of the team you speak to, they will be able to help. You can expect to see these changes happening towards the beginning of 2023.
To make sure our communication with you is clear, we are working with our Customer Insight Committee on widescale communications.
We have partnered with IFF, who are experts at surveying customers, to make sure as many customers as possible get to feedback about their experience with us.
We are introducing a training programme for all team members and contracted partners to make sure that you always receive a high standard of customer care.
