Your Rights as a Credit Union Member
Crownsavers Complaint Procedure
Our Commitment to Members
Your Credit Union is a member of the Association of British Credit Unions, and part of the World Council of Credit Unions, this credit union aims to provide members with quality financial services.
We welcome any opportunity to put things right for members who are dissatisfied with our service we will use Members’ feedback to help improve services for all members.
This procedure sets out how a complaint can be made to the credit union, and how the complaint will be investigated and responded to.
Definition of complaints and eligible complainants
A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction, whether written or oral, about a service that the credit union has provided, or failed to provide that has resulted in a financial loss, material distress or material inconvenience, or the potential for such loss or inconvenience to occur.
Complaints can only be made by eligible complainants. An eligible
complainant is:
1. a credit union member or junior saver, or potential or former member or
junior saver.
2. a nominated beneficiary or personal representative of 1 above.
3. a business with a turnover of less than £1 million.
This credit union asserts its right to make appropriate business decisions about any area of our operations; including admission of new members to membership and individual eligibility, for credit as referenced in the membership and loan policies of the credit union.
Complaints will be handled fairly, consistently and promptly.
Receiving a complaint
A complaint can be received at any place that the credit union conducts business a complaint can be received by any officer or volunteer of the credit union.
A complaint may be made in writing or orally to an officer or volunteer of the credit union. A complaint can be made in person, by letter, by telephone or be email.
Investigating Complaints
The Complaints Officer will be responsible for investigating the complaint.
If the Complaints Officer is the subject of the complaint, the Chair of the Supervisory Committee may delegate a suitable individual, not involved in the complaint, to action and investigate the complaint as soon as the complaint is received.
A thorough investigation will be undertaken upon receipt of the complaint.
Appropriate actions will be taken to identify and remedy any recurring or systemic problems as well as any specific problem identified by a complaint.
Responding to Complaints
The credit union aims to resolve the complaint to the complainant’s satisfaction as speedily as possible.
Within a day
This credit union aims to resolve complaints to the complainant’s
satisfaction by the close of business on the next business day after
the day on which the complaint was received.
Within 7 days
If the complaint cannot be resolved quickly, an acknowledgement will be
sent to the complainant within 7 days of receipt of the complaint. The
acknowledgement will include the following information:
- the name or job title of the person handling the complaint
- the credit union's internal complaint handling procedure
Within 8 weeks
If still unresolved within 8 weeks of receiving a complaint, the credit union
will send the complainant:
- a final response, or
- a response which explains the delay and advises the complainant when a final response can be expected. The complainant will be advised that if dissatisfied with the delay he can refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. A copy of the FOS explanatory leaflet will be included in the response.
Final Response
It is the credit union’s intention to provide a complainant with a satisfactory final response within 8 weeks of receipt of the complaint.
Redress to Complainants
The credit union will seek to improve its services to all members resulting from complains received.
If appropriate to the circumstances of the case, the Complaints Officer investigating the complaint will have the authority to offer an appropriate level of financial compensation as final settlement of the complaint up to an amount no greater than £50.00. If an amount greater than this is, considered appropriate, the decision will be referred to the Board of Directors of the Credit Union to determine At all times, any financial redress offered will not be greater than any actual financial loss incurred, and will be dependent upon the circumstances of the individual complaint.
Records and reporting
The credit union will keep all records of complaints taking more than the following business day to resolve, for a period of 3 years. The credit union will make an annual report to the FSA on the amount of complaints handled by the credit union.
Financial Ombudsman Service
If a complainant remains dissatisfied at the completion of the credit union’s internal complaint-handling procedure on receipt of a final response from the credit union, the complaint can be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service within six months of receiving the credit union’s final response letter.
The credit union will co-operate with any investigation undertaken by the Financial Ombudsman Service. The Financial Ombudsman Service provides a free service to members and consumers.
All complaints should be addressed to the Complaints Officer.
In this credit union, the Complaints Officer is:
(1) Carole Corrodus or (2) Mark Maynard
The Financial Ombudsman Service can be contacted at:
|
Financial Ombudsman Service South Quay Plaza 183 March Wall London E14 9SR |
Phone: 0845 080 1800 email: enquiries @financial-ombudsman.org.uk Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk |