Service Complaints

It’s important to us that the BBRS delivers good customer service, ensuring that we uphold our principles of Independent, Fair, Timely, Transparent and Accessible. If you feel you need to complain about the service you have received we will take this seriously, investigate, and learn from any mistakes that have been made. This page details how you can make a service complaint, and what you should expect from us.

What can I raise a service complaint about?

We are keen to hear when our processes have not met either your expectations or our own standards.

There are some circumstances where a service complaint cannot be progressed. We will not accept a service complaint about the following;

• The outcome or decision of a case, or judgement used within a case. Within the case management approach it is possible to appeal a decision, and this is the correct approach for this type of concern. Details on how to appeal are available from the case team and will be included at different stages of the process.
• A policy of the BBRS. The policy the BBRS operates to is a product of extensive collaboration between our stakeholder groups. Feedback on our policy will be shared with these stakeholders for their consideration.

We may not be able to investigate a service complaint if it is longer than 3 months since a case decision was made.

How do I raise a service complaint?

In the first instance, we encourage you to raise your concerns with the BBRS team that you are in contact with – be that the contact centre or case teams. This is often the easiest and quickest way of resolving any concern you have and they will listen to what you want to say.

If your concerns aren’t addressed, you can raise a service complaint by emailing us at hello@thebbrs.org. Your email will be treated in the greatest confidence by independent, internal personnel of the BBRS. You should provide as much detail as you can about your complaint so that we can identify details and investigate properly. We may contact you to qualify a part of your service complaint, or seek more information.

If you require any adjustments to make this process accessible, you should let us know and we will ensure they are accommodated.

How are service complaints managed?

Our principles apply directly to how service complaints are managed. Service complaints are managed by the BBRS’ Customer Director. Service complaints are directly received in confidence by the Customer Director, who will ensure information is properly protected.

Your service complaint will be acknowledged, and if an investigation is necessary this will be initiated and delivered by an appointed person with the necessary knowledge, authority and independence. Our investigation will seek to identify and address root causes, and we will confirm the result of this investigation to you clearly.

The investigation of a service complaint may cause minimal delay in the progression of a case, and it is possible that parts of the case management process will need to be revisited, or new personnel involved.

Service complaints will be briefed to senior management to ensure service performance is understood, and recommendations are progressed. The non-executive Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee maintain oversight of all service complaint activity.