What to expect

We want to provide you with the best service possible so we have implemented various customer standards that we will always strive to achieve. We also explain what you should do if you feel that we have not met those standards. It is really important that you tell us how we are performing, and let us know when we are not getting it right.

Customer Service Standards
Complaints procedure
Special payments and other help

Customer Service Standards

Our Customer Service Standards are intended to help you by providing full information about our services and how we perform against the set standards.

Our focus for 2006/7 was on improving the quality of service we provide and we shall seek to deliver good performance levels during 2007/8. These Standards are useful drivers for improvement in key areas of concern to you. Success in addressing these concerns is measured in the level of overall customer satisfaction with our service. We regularly review our standards to ensure they are firmly aligned with the quality of customer service required.

We have 11 Customer Service Standards, these are:

We will aim to notify you of a hearing date within six weeks of receipt of your enquiry form.
If you tell us that you need an interpreter for your hearing, we will arrange for a professional organisation to provide one for you, and we will meet the costs.
When you contact us about your appeal, we will provide you with accurate information about the appeals process, and the stage your appeal has reached.
Each tribunal venue will be easily recognisable, accessible, and provide facilities for people with disabilities.
We aim to acknowledge your arrival at the tribunal venue, and to have the clerk meet you not less than five minutes before the hearing time to explain the procedure.
We will give fair and equal treatment irrespective of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation or religious belief.
We will refund reasonable costs for you attending your hearing.
We aim to provide clear, straightforward information about our service, including where to go and what to do if help is needed.
We will aim to reply to general enquiries received by post, email and fax, as soon as we can, and usually within 10 working days.
We will answer the telephone between the hours of 8.30am and 5.00pm Monday to Friday.
We will aim to respond to complaints within 15 working days. If we cannot, we will advise when we can, together with the name and contact details of the person dealing with your complaint.

Complaints procedure

We have split our complaints procedure into 3 steps which you should follow if you encounter problems when using our service.

Step 1
If you have a complaint, please telephone the team that has been dealing with your appeal and ask to speak to the team manager. If you prefer, you can write to, or fax, the manager. Contact details are on the letters that we send you. Alternatively, each office has a customer service email address. To keep information confidential, we will not email replies that include personal details.
The manager or a member of their team will discuss your complaint with you and explain how we will investigate it. They will also give you their contact details and will get in touch with you to let you know the outcome of their investigation.

Step 2
Most complaints will be settled at Step 1. However, if you do not think that your complaint has been dealt with effectively at Step 1, you can write to the Regional Manager with responsibility for the office you have been dealing with. The reply you received at Step 1 will tell you who to contact. Please let the Regional Manager know why you are not happy with the response at Step 1. The Regional Manager will look again at your case and let you know the outcome.

Step 3
If you are still unhappy after receiving the Regional Manager's response to your complaint, you can write to the Chief Executive of the Tribunals Service. The letter from the Regional Manager will tell you the Chief Executive's address. Alternatively, you can email the Chief Executive directly. If doing so, please set out clearly which parts of your complaint you do not feel have been fully addressed and why.
The Chief Executive or one of the Tribunals Service Directors, on behalf of the Chief Executive, will review your complaint and reply to you.

Complaints we cannot investigate
We cannot deal with complaints about the tribunal's decision. You will be given notes with your decision that explain what to do if you are dissatisfied.
If your complaint is about the behaviour of the tribunal panel, you should write to the Regional Chairman, with responsibility for the office dealing with your appeal, explaining your concerns. The address will be on the letters we send you.

Special payments and other help

We may be able to give you a special payment if we agree that you have suffered financially because we have:

made a serious mistake in dealing with your case; or
caused the hearing of your appeal to be unreasonably delayed.

In rare circumstances we may make a special payment to apologise for the way we treated you, if you have suffered:

inconvenience as a result of repeated mistakes;
embarrassment or humiliation; or
severe distress or harm to your health.

We may be able to make a special payment to apologise for the way we have treated you.

We will consider a special payment, where appropriate, as part of your complaint. However, if you think it applies to you, please contact the office dealing with your complaint explaining why you are requesting a special payment.

There is no legal right to a special payment but we will consider your circumstances in line with our guidance.

Other help

If you want someone to help you make a complaint you could contact:

a local organisation like the Citizens Advice Bureau; or
your Member of Parliament.

Your Member of Parliament may also be able to ask the Parliamentary Ombudsman to look at your complaint. There is more information in the leaflet 'Problems with a government department? How we can help', you can get this leaflet from:

Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

Helpline 0845 015 4033