Complaints Policy and Procedure

DAP VA Limited (DAPVA) is committed to providing a quality service for its clients and working in an open and accountable way that builds the trust and respect of all its stakeholders. One of the ways in which it can continue to improve its service is by listening and responding to the views of clients and in particular by responding positively to complaints, and by putting mistakes right.

Therefore it aims to ensure that:

• making a complaint is as easy as possible;
• it treats a complaint as a clear expression of dissatisfaction with its service which calls for an immediate response;
• it deals with it promptly, politely and, when appropriate, confidentially;
• it responds in the right way – for example, with an explanation, or an apology where it has got things wrong, or information on any action taken etc;
• it learns from complaints, uses them to improve its service, and review annually its complaints policy and procedures.

DAPVA recognises that many concerns will be raised informally, and dealt with quickly. DAPVA’s aims are to:

• resolve informal concerns quickly;
• keep matters low-key;
• enable mediation between the complainant and the individual to whom the complaint has been referred.

An informal approach is appropriate when it can be achieved. But if concerns cannot be satisfactorily resolved informally, then the formal complaints procedure should be followed.

Definition: a complaint as ‘any expression of dissatisfaction that relates to DAPVA and that requires a formal response’.

Purpose: The formal complaints procedure is intended to ensure that all complaints are handled fairly, consistently and wherever possible resolved to the complainant’s satisfaction.

In the event of a formal complaint, DAPVA will:

• acknowledge the formal complaint in writing;
• respond within a stated period of time;
• deal reasonably and sensitively with the complaint;
• take action where appropriate.

A complainant’s responsibility is to:

• bring their complaint, in writing, to our attention within 4 weeks of the issue arising;
• raise concerns promptly and directly with Debbie at DAPVA,
• explain the problem as clearly and as fully as possible, including any action taken to date;
• allow DAPVA a reasonable time to deal with the matter;
• recognise that some circumstances may be beyond DAPVA’s control.

Confidentiality: Except in exceptional circumstances, every attempt will be made to ensure that both the complainant and DAPVA maintain confidentiality. However the circumstances giving rise to the complaint may be such that it may not be possible to maintain confidentiality (with each complaint judged on its own merit). Should this be the case, the situation will be explained to the complainant.

Our Formal Complaints Procedure

If you are unable to resolve the issue informally, you should email debbie@dapva.com, so that she has a chance to put things right. In your email you should set out the details of your complaint, the consequences for you as a result, and the remedy you are seeking.

You can expect your complaint to be acknowledged within 4 working days of receipt. You should get a response and an explanation within 15 working days.

DAPVA aims to resolve all matters as quickly as possible. However, inevitably some issues will be more complex and therefore may require longer to be fully investigated. Consequently timescales given for handling and responding to complaints are indicative. If a matter requires more detailed investigation, you will receive an interim response describing what is being done to deal with the matter, and when a full reply can be expected and from whom.   This Policy is licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 4.0) licence. You are welcome to adapt it for your own purposes, in which case please acknowledge this page as your source, applying a suitable attribution share alike licence on your own policy. Thank you.