Complaints procedure

Stage 1: tell us

Contact us in whatever way suits you. Most things are resolved at this point, often the same day.

We acknowledge every complaint in writing within 3 working days and give you a full written response within 10 working days. If we need longer, for example because we have to speak to a contractor or a landlord, we’ll tell you why and when to expect an answer.

If putting a complaint in writing is difficult, phone us and we will write it down as you say it, read it back and send you the copy, which is where the clock starts. Tell us if you need large print, another language, or a different way of hearing from us. Anyone you appoint can complain for you and deal with us throughout, whether that is a family member, an adviser or a solicitor.

Stage 2: ask for a review

If you’re not satisfied with the Stage 1 response, ask for the complaint to be reviewed by a director. Put it in writing, marked “Stage 2 complaint”, and include what you feel was unresolved.

We acknowledge Stage 2 complaints within 3 working days and send the review within 15 working days. That letter is our final viewpoint. It will say so plainly, and it will tell you how to take the complaint to The Property Ombudsman and by when.

Stage 3: take it outside the business

Two independent routes are open to you. Both are free, and you don’t need a solicitor for either. Use one at a time: the Ombudsman stands down if the same complaint is already with a court or another independent scheme.

The Property Ombudsman

We are a member of The Property Ombudsman Scheme, membership number T14765-0. The Ombudsman is independent of us, is approved by government to handle property complaints, and costs you nothing to use. Tenants, landlords, buyers and sellers can all complain to them, and so can a small business, charity or trust under £3 million in turnover, income or net assets.

When you can go to them

• Once you have our final viewpoint letter.
• Or once 8 weeks have passed since you first complained to us in writing, if that comes sooner.
• Sooner than that if we ignore your complaint or keep failing to address it. You can ask the Ombudsman to step in.

The two deadlines

• Complain to us within 12 months of what went wrong, or of the date you found out about it.
• Refer the complaint to the Ombudsman within 12 months of our final viewpoint letter.

You complain to them on their own form, signed, with copies of what you wrote to us and what we wrote back. They can only look at complaints you have already put to us, so keep the two the same. If you need the form in another format, or help filling it in, they will do that.

What they can do

• Award you up to £25,000 for proven financial loss, and for aggravation, distress and inconvenience.
• Direct us to change how we work, or to apologise.
• You have 14 days to accept a decision. Accepting it binds us and settles those complaints in full, which also means you cannot then take the same complaints to court. Rejecting it costs you nothing: every other route stays open, including the court.

Membership number

T14765-0

Website

tpos.co.uk

Email

admin@tpos.co.uk

Phone

01722 333 306

Post

Milford House, 43-55 Milford Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 2BP

First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber)

If your complaint is about our letting agency work, you may apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) if you remain dissatisfied once this procedure has been exhausted, or if we do not deal with your complaint within a reasonable time. The Tribunal can decide whether we have failed to comply with the Letting Agent Code of Practice and can make a Letting Agent Enforcement Order setting out what we have to put right.

Reporting us to the register

You can also report concerns about a registered letting agent to the Scottish Government, which maintains the Letting Agent Register and can remove an agent from it.

Our standards

• We are a member of The Property Ombudsman Scheme, membership number T14765-0, so an independent decision on a complaint is always available to you.
• If the Ombudsman makes an award and you accept it, we pay it within 28 days.
• We hold client money in a separate client account, protected by Propertymark Client Money Protection.
• We hold professional indemnity insurance.
• We record every complaint, in writing and on the phone, at the time it is made, and review them regularly to find what keeps going wrong.
• We will tell you honestly when we've made a mistake.

Lintel Homes Ltd is a member of The Property Ombudsman Scheme, membership number T14765-0.