Complaints Policy and Procedure

​POLICY

Harpenden Building Society is committed to providing a first class service.  We recognise that from time to time mistakes may occur and we then fall short of the high standards to which we aspire.  We want to know about these occasions, so that we can learn from them and use this knowledge to continue to enhance our service.

Your feedback is very important.  If at any time you are dissatisfied, please tell us straightaway so that we can investigate and put right any mistake or omission, promptly.

PROCEDURE

If you want to make a complaint, you can do this by:

SAVINGS

Calling in at any branch and speaking to a member of staff
Calling our Member Services Team on 01582 765411
Contacting the Branch Manager at your branch, either by phone or letter
Or email us at: enquiries@harpendenbs.co.uk

MORTGAGES

Calling the Mortgage Department on 01582 463133
Emailing the Mortgage Department at mortgages@harpendenbs.co.uk

GENERAL

Calling in at any branch and speaking to a member of staff
Calling our Member Services Team on 01582 765411

Emailing us at: enquiries@harpendenbs.co.uk

OUR COMPLAINTS HANDLING PROCESS

We will do all that we can to resolve your complaint as quickly as possible and ideally by the close of business on the third working day, following the receipt of your complaint. If your complaint is resolved within three working days, we will send you a letter that acknowledges your complaint and confirms that the Society has now resolved it to your satisfaction and the matter is considered closed.

If we are not able to do this, we will send you a written acknowledgement, at the close of the fifth working day after receipt, to confirm we have received your complaint and to provide contact details of the person who is dealing with the matter. We will keep you informed and once our investigations are complete we will provide you with our final response in writing.

Complaints about payment transactions or a payment account

If your complaint (or part of it) concerns a payment transaction or a payment account, we will endeavour to deal with your complaint within 15 working days. If circumstances beyond our reasonable control prevent us from sending you our final response to your complaint in this time frame, we will instead send you a holding response explaining clearly why this is the case and specifying when we will be able to. In those circumstances, you will receive our final response within 35 working days.

Complaints about other matters

If within eight weeks of receiving your complaint we are not able to provide you with a final response, we will write to you again to tell you this, informing you why we are not in a position to, and let you know when we expect to be able to do so. If we do not deal with your complaint to your satisfaction, you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Their address is as follows:
Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR

Telephone:       0300 123 9 123 or 0800 0234567
E-mail:              complaint.info@financial–ombudsman.org.uk
Website:           www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

You can also access the Financial Ombudsman Service online, but only if you applied for goods and services online and you reside in the European Union. You can access this alternative service at: http://ec.europa.eu/odr and you must quote our e-mail address which is enquiries@harpendenbs.co.uk.

If you choose to submit your complaint in this way, it will be forwarded to the Financial Ombudsman Service. It can take longer for the Financial Ombudsman Service to receive your complaint if you submit it online, so we would recommend that you go to them directly, to save you time.

Our aim is to resolve any complaint reasonably and speedily. The person handling your complaint will have appropriate knowledge, experience and authority to deal with the issues that you have raised.

If you are not satisfied with the Society’s final response, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge – but you must do so within six months of the date of this letter.

If you do not refer your complaint in time, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances. For example, if the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.

You may also be able to submit complaints to the Financial Conduct Authority.

Your Suggestions

We always welcome any suggestions or comments you may have on how we can improve our service to our customers.  You can contact us on enquiries@harpendenbs.co.uk and we’ll take a look.