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Complaint Handling Procedure

We always want to provide the best possible service for our customers but recognise that sometimes you might be disappointed with our service. If you are dissatisfied with the service we have provided to you, you can make a complaint.

To make a complaint, please contact us using the information provided below. We will then review your complaint and provide you with our response. If you are not satisfied with the response we have provided, you can escalate the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service for a final decision.

How to make a complaint

If you wish to make a complaint about our service, you can do so:

  • By emailing us at info@hi-finance.co.uk
  • By calling us on 0800 029 1934
  • By post at Home Improvement Finance Ltd, Level 6, Stockbridge House, Trinity Gardens, Quayside, Newcastle, NE1 2HJ.

Information to provide when making a complaint

We aim to resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. To help us do this, please provide the following when making your complaint:

  1. Your name;
  2. A description of why you are dissatisfied;
  3. What you would like us to do to put things right; and
  4. A phone number and email address that we can reach you on.

What happens after making a complaint?

Complaint resolved within 3 days

If we resolve your complaint within three business days from the day you make it, we will write to you confirming that the complaint has been resolved and provide you with a summary resolution communication. We will only consider a complaint to be resolved within this timeframe when you indicate your acceptance of our response.

Complaint not resolved within 3 days

If we cannot resolve your complaint within three business days from the day you make it, we will send you a written acknowledgement letter, letting you know that we’ve received the complaint and that we are looking into it. We will provide this acknowledgement to you promptly and no later than five days after the day we receive your complaint.

Once we receive your complaint, our complaint handler will investigate the circumstances surrounding your complaint and which led to it being made. They will look at why you have made your complaint and investigate what might have gone wrong. We will also keep you updated on the progress of your complaint up to the time you receive our response. Then, within 8 weeks from the date of your complaint, our complaint handler will send you either:

  1. A final response addressing the complaint and outlining your right to appeal with the Financial Ombudsman Service if you are dissatisfied with the resolution of your complaint; or
  2. A written response which explains why we are not in a position to make our final response, giving reasons for the further delay, indicating when we expect to be able to provide our final response and informing you that you can refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you are dissatisfied with the delay.

Within our final response, we will either:

  • Accept the complaint and, where appropriate, offer redress or remedial action;
  • Offer redress or remedial action without accepting the complaint; or
  • Reject the complaint and give reasons for doing so.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you have the right to make a formal complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service who will investigate the complaint independently. For more information on this, please see the information on the Financial Ombudsman Service below.

The Financial Ombudsman Service

If we have not provided you with a final response within 8 weeks from the date you made your complaint or if you are not satisfied with our final response you have the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service, their contact details can be found below.

Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

By email at complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Address: Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR.

Or by freephone: 0800 023 4567

Standard Telephone: 0300 123 9 123

Outside of the UK: +44 20 7964 0500

If you wish to raise your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, doing so is free but you must do this within six months from the date of our final response unless we have expressly said otherwise within our final response. You can find more information on the services provided by the Financial Ombudsman Service by visiting their website at https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/.

When we send you our final response, we will also provide you with a copy of the Financial Ombudsman Service’s explanatory Leaflet. Alternatively, you can obtain a copy from https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/resolving-complaint/ordering-leaflet/leaflet

There are certain types of complaints that are outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. Before you refer the matter to the Ombudsman you may wish to contact them on 0800 023 4567 to discuss your complaint. You can also visit the Financial Ombudsman Service website for more information. This includes details of how to make a complaint against the business and provides a questionnaire for you to complete.