Complaints Procedure

Ark Housing Association is keen to deliver quality housing services. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our services, you have the right to make a complaint. It is our aim to ensure that all complaints are investigated and resolved as quickly and fairly as possible. To achieve this objective the following complaints procedure has been established.

The Complaints Process

The complaints procedure is made up of two stages.

Stage 1 - The informal procedure

Stage 2 - The formal procedure

The Informal Procedure

Informal complaints are intended to be addressed at as early a stage as possible. A complaint can be received either in writing or verbally.

Staff will attempt to resolve the complaint at source by informally talking to the complainant and where possible implementing remedial action to address the problem.

Where this action fails to the resolve the problem then the complainant has the right to instigate the formal complaints procedure.

The Formal Complaints Process

Under the formal complaints procedure, the complainant should be requested to put their grievance or complaint in writing and forward it to:

The Housing & Support Manager

Ark Housing Association

9 Stranmillis Road

Belfast

BT9 5AF

On receipt of a complaint the following procedure will be applied.

• You shall receive an acknowledgement of your complaint.
• Your complaint will be reviewed by the Housing & Support Manager.
• The Housing & Support Manager will decide on your complaint.
• You will be advised in writing of the decision in respect of your complaint, normally within 5 working days of the decision being made.
• You will be advised of your right to make a further complaint if you remain unsatisfied with the decision made by the Housing & Support Manager.

Making a Further Complaint

If you remain unsatisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you have the right to submit a further complaint. All such complaints should be forwarded to:

The Director

Ark Housing Association

9 Stranmillis Road

Belfast

BT9 5AF

You should detail as clearly as possible why you are dissatisfied with the decision made by the Housing & Support Manager and provide any other information you consider relevant to your complaint.

On receipt of your complaint the following procedure will be applied.

• You will receive an acknowledgement of your complaint.
• The Director will review the circumstances of your case and the grounds for your complaint.
• The Director will make a decision on your complaint.
• You will be advised in writing of the outcome of your complaint, normally within 5 working days of the decision being made.
• You will be informed of your right to make a further complaint.

Commissioner for Complaints

From 1st April 2004, Housing Associations were added to the list of bodies subject to investigation by the Ombudsman's office under the Commissioner for Complaints (NI) Order 1996.

As a tenant of Ark Housing, you have the right to bring complaints about the Association to the Commissioner for Complaints. You should remember that the Commissioner would normally expect a tenant to have used the Association's internal complaints procedure before bringing a complaint to him.

How to contact the Commissioner for Complaints

The Commissioners office can be contacted for advice on Freephone 0800343424 or by writing to:

The Ombudsman

Freepost BEL.1478

Belfast

BT1 6BR

Alternatively, you can e-mail the Ombudsman's office on - ombudsman@ni-ombudsman.org.uk

Further information is available on the web site - www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk

Our standards of service

Ark Housing is seeking to deliver quality Housing Services to our customers and we want to ensure that all complaints are dealt with as quickly as possible. We recognize that sometimes things to go wrong and welcome our customer’s views, comments and complaints which assist us in continuously improving our services.

When you make a complaint, you can expect to receive the following standards to service from us.

• We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days.
• We will investigate your complaint and make a decision, usually within 10 working days.
• If we are unable to complete our investigations or make a decision on your complaint, in this time we shall write to you to advise you of the reasons for the delay.
• We will notify you in writing of our decision within 5 working days of the decision being made.
• We will advise you of your rights to make a further complaint and assist you in doing so.