Do you have a complaint about Citizens Advice?
Tell us if we’ve let you down
We want everyone who uses Citizens Advice’s services to be happy. If you’re not, we want to know why. We’ll always try to put things right, but if we can’t, knowing where we’ve gone wrong will help us to do better in the future.
If you make a complaint, we’ll still try to advise you. However, if we can’t, we’ll try to find another adviser or organisation to help you.
Ask us to informally resolve the problem
If you’re unhappy with the service you’ve received from us or the way we’ve treated you, ask to speak to a Manager. It’s important that we know what we’ve done wrong as soon as it’s happened so that we can try to put it right. If the Manager can’t put it right or you’re still unhappy, you can make a formal complaint about us.
However, you don’t have to talk to us first to make a formal complaint.
Making a formal complaint about us
There are several ways you can make a formal complaint. You can either send a letter to our Chief Officer or the Chair of the Trustees explaining what’s happened, or you can give details of your complaint to Citizens Advice’s Client Services team. When they receive your complaint, they’ll send it to us to investigate.
Once we’ve got your complaint, we might talk to you informally about it instead of starting the formal complaints process. This may be quicker and less stressful. However, we may decide to formally investigate your complaint without speaking to you.
Your complaint will be investigated by someone who isn’t involved with it, usually a manager or our Chief Officer. The Chair of the Trustees will send you a formal response once it’s been investigated, usually within 8 weeks of us receiving your complaint. If it’s going to take longer, we’ll let you know why.
If we uphold your complaint, we’ll say sorry for what we’ve done wrong and will let you know what we’ll do to put things right.
Review by national Citizens Advice
If you’re unhappy with our response or the outcome to your complaint, you can ask for our decision to be reviewed. To do so, you must contact Citizens Advice’s Client Services team within 4 weeks of receiving our formal response. You need to explain to the Client Services team why you’re unhappy with our formal response.
The Client Services team will review the complaint on behalf of national Citizens Advice’s Chief Executive. The review checks that we properly investigated your complaint, we responded to all of your issues and our reply was fair and reasonable. Their review is not a reinvestigation of your complaint.
Review by an independent adjudicator
If you’re unhappy with national Citizens Advice’s review, you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed by an
independent adjudicator. This is someone from outside Citizens Advice who will decide whether your complaint was dealt with fairly.
If you want an independent adjudicator review, you must contact the Client Services team within 4 weeks of receiving your review and explain to them the reasons why you’re unhappy with the review.
The independent adjudicator’s decision is final and is the last stage of the complaints process.
Advice about debtor your credit record
If we gave you debt or credit card advice, you can complain about us to the Financial Ombudsman Service. However,
you can only do this once we’ve let you have a formal response to your complaint or if we don’t respond to you within 8 weeks of receiving it. Alternatively, you can ask the Client Services team to review your complaint after we’ve sent you our formal response.
Immigration advice
If we gave you immigration advice, you can complain about us to the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC). You should complain to the OISC within 12 months of receiving our advice. You can make a complaint to the OISC at any stage of the complaints process.
Who to contact if you want to complain:
Citizens Advice South West Surrey
Address your letter to The Chief Officer or the Chair of the Trustees at the address below:
15-21 Haydon Place, Guildford, Surrey G,U1 4LL
Citizens Advice’s Client Services team
Phone: 03000 231 900
E-mail: feedback@citizensadvice.org.uk
More information about making a complaint about Citizens Advice can be found on our website here
Financial Ombudsman Service
You can complain online at this website
Phone: 0800 023 4567
Email: complaint.info@financial- ombudsman.org.uk
Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC)
Details about how to complain can be found on their website
Phone: 0345 000 0046
E-mail: complaints@oisc.gov.uk
Also available as a download leaflet