Complaints and feedback

We are committed to providing an excellent service to all our residents and we welcome all feedback. If you are pleased with our services, please do let us know so we share and thank our team or contractors.

We acknowledge that sometimes things do go wrong and when this is the case, our aim is to put things right as soon as possible. If you are dissatisfied with something we have done or not done, or with the level of service you received, we want to know so we can investigate what’s happened and try to put things right. This also gives us the chance to learn and improve our services.

If you have a complaint about Mount Green and would like independent advice or guidance about your complaint you can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service. You can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service at any point a complaint is being dealt with through our process. The Housing Ombudsman cannot investigate your complaint whilst it is going through our internal complaints process, but the Ombudsman may be able to help support in reaching a resolution.

To do this you can phone 0300 111 3000. Alternatively, you can write to Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET and visit www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk for more information.

How are we doing?

Find out how we’re performing as an organisation and the steps we’ve taken in response to complaints made, by reading our latest summary.

Complaints Overview for 2024/25

Complaints Overview for 2023/24

Complaints overview for 2022/23

What constitutes a complaint?

A complaint is defined as: ‘an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the organisation, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting an individual resident or group of residents.’ Residents do not need to use the word ‘complaint’ for it to be managed as a complaint.

What is a service request?

A request for service is defined as a request by or on behalf of a resident or group of residents for something to be provided or put right. When a resident makes a request for service, we will triage their request seeking to resolve it first time. When required, issues may be passed to specialist colleagues. We will communicate with residents as required to provide updates. Service requests should be sent to our Customer Experience Team in the first instance, either through telephone, website, social media direct messages, in writing or through email.

What is a comment?

A comment is defined as any other form of feedback about our services. It could include resident’s ideas for improvements, observations about our services, and include negative feedback separate to a complaint. We record comments to understand our resident’s views about services, helping to drive service improvement.

What is a compliment?

A compliment is defined as positive feedback for a job well done. We record compliments to allow us to identify and strengthen best practice and to celebrate the success of our colleagues and partners when we get it right.

What isn’t a complaint?

We will consider the individual circumstances of each complaint. However, there are instances when we won’t accept a complaint. Circumstances when we may not deal with something as a complaint could include:

It is referring to a service not provided by Mount Green
The event or issue took place more than twelve months before we received the complaint
The complaint has previously been through the complaints process.
It relates to a service charge, unless the service hasn’t been delivered in accordance with the service requirement, or there has been a mistake made in the calculation of a charge.
If a complainants behaviour is unreasonable, in which case we will follow our Managed Relationships Policy.
We have a separate policy for how we manage reports of Anti-Social Behaviour. However, a complaint about the standard, or lack of, service will be dealt with as a complaint.
Personal injury and third party liability claims, which will be dealt with by our insurers.
We won’t consider expressions of dissatisfaction made through a survey as a complaint. However, when we ask for feedback on our services, we will signpost to our complaints service.

Please refer to our Complaints Policy for the full list of circumstances where we would not consider a complaint.

If we do decide not to accept a complaint, we will provide a detailed explanation to the customer explaining why the matter is not suitable for the complaints process and the right to take that decision to the Housing Ombudsman Service. We will record any instances where we do decide not to raise a complaint.

We have a two-stage complaint process:

Stage 1

An acknowledgement of a Stage 1 complaint will be sent to the resident within five working days.
If any aspect of the complaint is unclear, we will ask for clarification and, if needed, agree exactly what the complaint is about.
A relevant officer will carry out a full investigation and be in touch within 10 working days with an outcome – unless agreed otherwise.
Where additional complaints are raised during the investigation, we will incorporate these into the stage one response if they are relevant and the stage one response has not been issued. Where the stage one response has been issued, or it would delay the response, we will log the additional issues as a new complaint.
If all or part of the Stage 1 complaint is not resolved to the resident’s satisfaction at this stage, it will be progressed to Stage 2 of our complaints process.

Stage 2

When a resident does not feel their complaint has been resolved at Stage 1, they can escalate it to a Stage 2 complaint. This request should be made within 15 working days of the date of the complaint response letter.

An acknowledgement of a Stage 2 complaint will be sent to the resident within five working days.
The manager investigating the complaint will clarify the service failure that has occurred and provide an action plan with timescales detailing the outcome required to put things right. All complaints will be investigated and responded to within 20 working days – unless agreed otherwise.
Stage two is our final response to the complaint, and we will involve all suitable staff members as needed. Once a resident or representative has received their stage two response, they can refer their complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Service if they remain dissatisfied.

Please note you can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service at any point during the complaint process. It cannot investigate your complaint whilst your complaint is going through our internal complaints procedure however the Ombudsman may be able to help you and your landlord reach a resolution.

Following Stage 2 and the completion of our internal complaints process you are entitled to refer your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Service. To do this you can phone 0300 111 3000. Alternatively, you can write to Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET and visit www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk for more information.

Policy page for Complaints, Compliments and Comments Policy Policy page for Compensation Policy Policy page for Managed Relationship Policy Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report Mount Green Self-Assessment Mount Green Board Statement Housing Ombudsman landlord performance report 2024-25

If you need information or our policy in a format or language that isn’t currently available on this page, please get in touch and we’ll arrange this for you.