Customer Complaints Procedure

IJR Financial Solutions & HL Partnership Limited

Hopefully all your dealings with HL Partnership Limited and our Appointed Representatives will be positive experiences. However, sometimes things go wrong and if that happens, we operate a structured Complaints Procedure to ensure we get things back on track as quickly as possible.

This document is a summary of that procedure which is designed to ensure any complaints are dealt with in a professional manner, are handled fairly, effectively, and promptly, and are resolved at the earliest possible opportunity.

1. Our commitment to you…

We will endeavour to resolve your complaint as quickly as possible and will work within the following timescales:

Three Business Days

Once we receive your complaint, if we are able to resolve the matter by close of business on the third working day following its receipt, we will simply do so and advise you in writing with our Summary Resolution Communication.

Five Business Days

If we are not able to resolve the matter as above, we will write to you within five business days acknowledging your complaint, confirming our understanding of the situation, and providing you with the name of the individual handling the complaint.

Four Weeks

If we haven’t been able to resolve the complaint sooner, after four weeks we will send you either our Final Response letter or a progress report explaining why we are not yet in a position to resolve the complaint.

Eight Weeks

If we still haven’t been able to resolve the case beforehand, at eight weeks we will send you either our Final Response letter or an explanation why we are not yet in a position to resolve the complaint, giving the reason for the delay and indicating when we expect to be able to provide a final response.

PLEASE NOTE: A business day is a Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm, excluding bank holidays. When a complaint is received on a non-business day, or on a business day outside business hours, we will treat the complaint as being received on the next business day.

2. Standards & Outcomes

We will ensure the person dealing with your complaint has the required skill, knowledge, and authority to respond to your complaint. Our staff are fully trained, and we operate a structured and robust complaints procedure to ensure all complaints are dealt with fairly.

We will ensure the letters we send are clear and explain things properly. When we resolve a complaint, you will either receive:

  • Summary Resolution CommunicationWhere we have been able to resolve a complaint within three business days, we will issue a Summary Resolution Communication explaining that we believe the complaint to be resolved. This will include details of how to escalate the case if you remain dissatisfied.
  • Final Response LetterOnce we have completed an investigation, we will issue our Final Response Letter to you. This will detail the complaint, explain our investigation, and confirm our findings. The Final Response letter will either ‘Uphold’ your complaint or ‘Reject’ your complaint and explain why. If there is any settlement or redress awarded, an explanation of how this was calculated will also be included.

The Financial Ombudsman Service

We will give you access to the Financial Ombudsman Service which is a free service set up by Parliament to sort out individual complaints that consumers and financial businesses are not able to resolve themselves.

If, once we have issued a Summary Resolution Communication or Final Response Letter (or after 8 weeks if we have yet to issue a Summary Resolution or Final Response letter), you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of our investigations, you may have the right to approach the Financial Ombudsman Service within 6 months of the date of the letter.

If you do not refer your complaint in time, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances. For example, if the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.

Contact the Ombudsman

Details of how to get in touch will be issued with our letters, but for more information:

Address:

Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR

Telephone:

0300 123 9123

Website:

www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Your commitment to us…

In order to help resolve complaints as quickly and fairly as possible, we ask the following:

Tell us what happened

We need to understand the situation as clearly as possible so we may ask you to provide your side of the story or let us have documents and information which may help our investigation.

Help us find the right solution

It is in everyone’s interests to get complaints settled amicably so if there is a particular outcome you believe would be suitable, tell us and we will assess if this is possible.

Respond to us as soon as you can

If we do need more information, we simply ask you to come back to us as soon as you can so that we can get things resolved quicker.

Treat us with respect

Our staff will do everything we can to help so we ask you give them the time to do their work and treat them with respect.

How to Complain

If you wish to register a complaint, you can do so by contacting our Complaints Department.

By Post

The Complaints Department
HL Partnership Limited
6 Merus Court, Meridian Business Park,
Leicester, LE19 1RJ

By Telephone

03300 552 651