How we deal with complaints
Cornerstone aims to provide good quality services to all our customers and to ensure everyone is treated fairly and equally. We welcome and encourage all complaints and feedback as an opportunity to learn and improve our services. Our complaints procedure can be used by any customers of Cornerstone or their appointed representatives
We define a complaint as any dissatisfaction expressed by you, whether justified or not. This could be regarding our services, action or a lack of action by Cornerstone Housing, our staff, or anyone acting on our behalf. You don’t need to ask to make a complaint or use the word ‘complaint’ as we will recognise what a complaint is from talking to you.
- A maintenance issue – this will be dealt with by our Repairs Team
- A neighbour dispute – this will be referred to our Housing team to give advice.
- Disagreement with a decision we have made where there is already an appeal process.
- Where the issue occurred more than six months ago.
- Feedback about our policies and procedures, these will be noted and taken into account for future reviews.
- We will not deal with a complaint where the person reporting it is behaving in an unacceptable manner towards our staff
- An issue that is being investigated by other agencies, for example a police investigation
How to make a complaint
Telephone – 01392 273462
Email – mail@cornerstonehousing.net
Via our website – Click here to complete form
Via social media – we will deal with complaints on social media privately, not publicly.
Write to us – Cornerstone House, Western Way, Exeter, EX1 1AL
We want to ensure that our complaints procedure is easy to access, inclusive and does not discriminate or disadvantage anyone. We are happy to consider making adjustments to help you engage with us. For example:
- You can make a complaint via a third party, a friend, family member or your MP
- Ask us for information in a different format to suit you
- Ask us for more time to provide or consider any information if you need it
- Ask us for help and support throughout your complaint, such as having an interpreter
We will make reasonable adjustments to ensure that our complaints policy and process is accessible and inclusive, please let us know if you need us to make adjustments for you.
Our Complaints Procedure
If an initial attempt by our staff to resolve your issue is not successful, a formal complaint will be recorded. Complaints at this stage will usually be dealt with by a senior member of staff.
We will:
- Log and acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days
- Tell you who will be dealing with the complaint and how to contact them
- Listen and give you a fair opportunity to set out your concerns
- Investigate the complaint fully
- Aim to resolve the complaint within 10 working days
- Provide you with a written response
You can request a review or an escalation of the complaint if it is still not resolved once stage one has been completed. Complaints at this stage will usually be dealt with by a member of our Executive Team who has had no involvement in stage one so that the review can be independent. You can also ask for a member of our Board or Tenant Performance Panel to be involved.
We will:
- Acknowledge the complaint has progressed to this stage within 5 working days
- Tell you will be dealing with the escalated complaint and how to contact them
- Aim to resolve the complaint within 20 working days
- Allow you to comment on any findings before a final decision is made
- Provide you with a written response and explain your rights if the complaint is still not resolved.
If we’re not able to resolve your complaint within the timeframes set out, we will:
- Explain the reasons why
- Provide a revised timescale
- Keep you informed
Our Complaints Standards
Here is what you can expect from us. We will:
- Promote and encourage feedback and complaints
- Make it easy for you to contact us
- Make reasonable adjustments to ensure we are accessible and inclusive
- Be friendly, respectful and professional
- Listen carefully to ensure we understand your complaint
- Investigate complaints fully
- Attempt to resolve issues quickly
- Keep you informed throughout the process
- Say ‘sorry’ if we got things wrong
- Do all we can to put things right in a reasonable timescale
- Accurately record all details
- Learn from complaints to improve our service and prevent future complaints
- Provide training and guidance to our staff
- Follow the Housing Ombudsman Complaint handling code
Taking your complaint further
The Housing Ombudsman Service is set up by law to look at complaints about housing organisations that are registered with them (which Cornerstone is), including housing associations and local authorities. Click here for more information about how they can help or to contact them about a complaint https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Leaflet-for-residents-about-the-Housing-Ombudsman-Service.pdf
You can make a complaint via the Housing ombudsman website Make a complaint – Housing Ombudsman (housing-ombudsman.org.uk)
How to contact the Housing Ombudsman service
- See the website at www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk
- Call on 0300 111 3000
- Email: info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk
- Write to the housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 152, Liverpool, L33 7WQ
