Complaints
We always want to provide you with the best service we can, but somethings things can go wrong. If you have a complaint about your home or the services we or our contractors provide, please let us know so that we can put things right. We’ll use your feedback to learn and to improve our services which will help you and others. You can view information about recent complaints and how we handled them.
How to make a complaint
If you wish to make a complaint, you can do this in many ways including using our online contact form. We always want to try and resolve an issue as soon as we’re aware of it. Where possible, please talk to the relevant member of staff first, as they may be able to resolve the issue without going through the complaints process.
When we receive a complaint, we’ll reply with an acknowledgement letter within three working days and respond to the complaint fully within 10 working days. If more time is needed to resolve the issue, the deadline can be extended by a further 10 working days.
Our complaints policy [PDF] sets out our approach to managing complaints and what you can expect from us.
Need help? We've produced an easy-read complaints leaflet, as well as a printable easy-read complaints form.
Complaints process stages
Stage one
- A thorough investigation of your complaint by the relevant service manager
- If you’re not happy with the outcome of the investigation, you can request a review of your complaint. We will also tell you how to contact other organisations for further advice.
Stage two
- A review of the investigation by a senior manager
Further help
If you need further help you can contact an ombudsman at any time:
- Housing Ombudsman
- Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
- Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
You should do this within 12 months of getting to the end of the complaints procedure. We will send you details of how to contact the relevant ombudsman with our complaint response letter, or you can visit their website for further information.
Depending on the nature of your complaint, you can also contact the Care Quality Commission or Healthwatch for further help or advice.
Why we might refuse a complaint
There may be times when we don’t accept a complaint because:
- The issue(s) being complained about took place over 12 months ago.
- The same issue from the same person has been investigated and closed.
- The issue is part of legal proceedings or where the same issue is part of a case that has been referred to court.
- We have evidence that the complaint is based on false information.
- Demands are made that are persistent, unreasonable or distressing.
- We’ve acted according to regulatory, policy or legislative restrictions.
Where this applies we’ll write to you and explain why we’re refusing a complaint.
Complaint handling
We comply with the Housing Ombudsman's complaint handling code. Each year we carry out a self-assessment to evaluate how we are performing when it comes to resolving complaints. You can download our self-assessment form. Read information about our performance on complaints.
In June 2024, NCHA’s Board approved our complaints self-assessment, which will accompany our Tenant Satisfaction Measures in the regulatory submission.
Compensation
We may make a compensation payment to you, where we have not met our service standards. For more information, please read our compensation policy [PDF].
