Tell us what you think

At Freebridge we want you to be happy with the service you receive from us, and to help us understand how we are doing we would like your feedback. We want you to tell us when we do something well, when we get something wrong, or any ideas you have for how we can improve what we do.

We monitor compliments, comments and complaints so that we can learn and improve and provide you with high quality services that you are happy with.

For more information, including details of our complaints process, please view our Compliments, Comments and Complaints leaflet.

Complaints, comments and compliments are important to us as they help us improve our services.

More Information

Compliments, Comments and Complaints

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Understanding the Complaints Process - from the Housing Ombudsman

The Housing Ombudsman helpfully sets out the complaints process as follows, to help make navigating the process of making a complaint easier:

Step 1 Tell your landlord about the problem

The first step is to report the problem to your landlord. They may be able to put things right. If you are having difficulty reporting the issue or are dissatisfied with the service you received in response, we can help you and your landlord resolve the issue. All landlords have complaints procedures that should be easy to use, fair and designed to put things right. If you think your complaint is not being dealt with correctly, for example if you receive delayed or no response, we can help ensure your complaint is responded to by your landlord.

Step 2  Escalate your complaint to the Ombudsman

If you are unable to resolve your complaint through your landlord’s complaints procedure you can refer your complaint to the Ombudsman. We will deal with each complaint to find the best outcome for your individual circumstances. Once we receive your complaint we may:

  • Refer the case to a different organisation if it is an issue we cannot make a decision about because it is not in our jurisdiction
  • Work with you and your landlord to resolve the dispute under our mediation procedure. For example, we can use out experience of resolving complaints to make suggestions to the landlord and/or the resident if we believe there is a way to resolve the complaint
  • Carry out an investigation; we only do this for those complaints where we decide an investigation is proportionate to the circumstances and evidence before us, for example complex complaints involving many issues

Contacting us

Complaints, comments and compliments are important to us as they help us improve our services. Customers can contact us in the following ways:

  • In person at any of our offices.
  • By phoning 03332 404 444, and holding the line to speak to someone
  • By e-mail [email protected].
  • By writing to us at Juniper House, Austin Street, King's Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1DZ.
  • Via the Tenant Web Portal - once they have registered tenants will be able to send a comment/complaint directly to us from here as well as report a repair and view their rent statement.
  • Via our social media accounts.

ADDRESS

Freebridge Community Housing
Juniper House
Austin Street
King’s Lynn
Norfolk
PE30 1DZ

TELEPHONE

03332 404 444

EMAIL

Email Freebridge

Who is the Housing Ombudsman?

The Housing Ombudsman Service is set up by law to look at complaints about the housing organisations, such as Freebridge, that are registered with them. Their service is free, independent and impartial.

They resolve disputes involving the tenants and leaseholders of social landlords (housing associations and local authorities) and their voluntary members. Residents and landlords can contact the Ombudsman at any time for support in helping to resolve a dispute. Their service is funded through annual landlord subscription fees, paid by Freebridge and other members.

Housing Ombudsman Contact Details

ADDRESS

Housing Ombudsman Service
PO Box 1484
Unit D
Preston
PR2 0ET

TELEPHONE

0300 111 3000
(9am-5pm Monday to Friday - Lines will be closed for staff training every Thursday from 3.30pm to 5pm)

FAX

020 7831 194

EMAIL

[email protected]

WEBSITE

www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk

ONLINE COMPLAINT FORM

www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/residents/make-a-complaint/

What can the Housing Ombudsman do?

The Housing Ombudsman can:

  • Provide advice and guidance to you while complaints are still within Freebridge's own complaints procedure
  • hold us to account if we do not follow our published procedures and respond in a timely manner by issuing complaint handling failure orders to require action on individual cases
  • offer additional support and conduct intervention work with Freebridge to improve complaints handling
  • act as the initial point of assessment for cases that have exhausted our complaints process
  • undertake formal investigations into cases that have been referred and remain unresolved following completion of our internal complaints procedure

You can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service direct at any time and speak to their dispute support advisors who will provide assistance throughout the life of a complaint.

Complaints Handling Code

The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code introduced in July 2020 sets out good practice that will allow landlords to respond to complaints effectively and fairly. Following a review one year after it was introduced it was updated it to strengthen provisions to support a positive complaint handling culture. The changes took effect from 1 April 2022.

Key areas in the Code

  • Universal definition of a complaint
  • Providing easy access to the complaints procedure and ensuring residents and aware of it, including their right to access the Housing Ombudsman Service
  • The structure of the complaints procedure - only two stages necessary and clear timeframes set out for responses
  • Ensuring fairness in complaint handling with a resident-focused process
  • Taking action to put things right and appropriate remedies
  • Creating a positive complaint handling culture through continuous learning and improvement
  • Demonstrating learning in annual reports
  • Annual self-assessment against the Code.

The Code was introduced as part of the Ombudsman’s new powers in the revised Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The updated Code took effect from 1 April 2022 and landlords had until 1 October 2022 to become compliant.

Complaints Performance

HOUSING OMBUDSMAN COMPLAINTS HANDLING CODE SELF-ASSESSMENT

In accordance with the Complaints Handling Code mentioned above, the Ombudsman stated that they expect ‘landlords to carry out regular self-assessment against the Code and take appropriate action to ensure their complaint handling is in line with the Code’.

Please find our self-assessment here:

SELF-ASSESSMENT

View - 2024 - 2025

SELF-ASSESSMENT

View - July 2023

SELF-ASSESSMENT

View - July 2022


SELF-ASSESSMENT

View - 14/01/22


SELF-ASSESSMENT

View - 07/04/21


SELF-ASSESSMENT

View - 11/12/20

More Information

Ombudsman Reports

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Complaints Performance & Service Improvement Report

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