The Complaints Process
Before you bring your complaint to the Ombudsman, please check to see if we can help:
- Is the Chartered Surveying Firm a member of the Surveyors Ombudsman Service?
- Have you already complained to the Chartered Surveying Firm?
- Does the range of remedies that the Ombudsman could offer fit with what you are looking for to resolve your complaint?
Before you complain to us, you must first have complained to the Chartered Surveying Firm. You must follow their complaints procedure and have given them a fair chance to sort the problem out. If you are still not happy with the way things have been handled, you can contact us.
There are some rules about when we can accept your complaint:
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You must have told the Chartered Surveying Firm about the problem within 12 months of first knowing about it. So, for example, if you realised there was a problem on 21 September 2007, you need to have told your Firm about it by 20 September 2008.
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The Surveyors Ombudsman Service is a new Service introduced on 1 June 2007 and the complaint must have been noticed and raised with the Chartered Surveying Firm after 1 June 2007.
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If the Chartered Surveying Firm you are complaining about is in Scotland, the complaint must have occurred no earlier than three months before 1 January 2004.
If you have already complained to the Chartered Surveying Firm, there are two situations where you can involve us. These are as follows:
1. Not making satisfactory progress
You must follow the Chartered Surveying Firm's complaints procedure and have allowed it up to three months to sort out the problem for you. If after three months of making your complaint, you're still not happy with the way it is being handled, you can pass it to us. For example, the Chartered Surveying Firm might not have replied to your complaint, or you may not be satisfied with the solution that has been offered.
The deadline for bringing it to our attention is nine months from the date you first told the Chartered Surveying Firm about the problem.
2. Getting a deadlock letter from the Chartered Surveying Firm
You might get a letter from the Chartered Surveying Firm that says it will no longer be handling your complaint. It might say, for example, that it can't do anything for you and that this is their final position. We call this a 'deadlock letter'.
You then have six months from the date of the letter, to pass your complaint to us.
If you are unsure if the Surveyors Ombudsman Service can look at your complaint, please give us a call.
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