We want to give a good service to everyone who gets in contact with us. If you are unhappy with our service we want to hear from you. We treat any expression of dissatisfaction with our service which calls for a response as a complaint – that is, if you contact us and tell us that you are unhappy with how we have handled your complaint or your case, we will listen to your concerns and if we cannot resolve them with you, ask whether you wish us to carry out an internal review of your complaint.
Complaints give us the opportunity to put things right and to improve our service for all customers in the future. You can ask someone else to complain for you. This could be a relative, friend, or professional adviser. We hope to resolve any issue with you, without an internal review being needed.
Written complaints should be submitted to Ofwat’s Case Management Office by email at [email protected] or in hard copy to:
Case Management Office
Ofwat
Centre City Tower
7 Hill Street
Birmingham
B5 4UA
United Kingdom
We can also be reached on 0121 644 7500. We will always ask you to put your complaint in writing, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
The internal review
If you request an internal review, it is helpful if you can set out the issue you are complaining about and what you would like Ofwat to do to put it right, as well as any brief background on the issue involved.
We will acknowledge receipt of your request for an internal review within two working days. We will investigate your complaint fully and objectively, with the person doing the review being independent of the part of Ofwat you have complained about. We aim to complete the review and write to you with our conclusions within 40 working days of receiving your request. We will tell you whether we uphold your complaint and, if so, what we are doing to put matters right. If we do not uphold your complaint we will give you our reasons.
When our internal review shows that things have gone wrong we will accept responsibility, explain what went wrong and why, and seek to put things right. Where appropriate we will provide a remedy which is proportionate and appropriate to the failure in service, and takes into account what you were looking for when you complained.
What you can do if you want to take your complaint further
We hope that we will be able to resolve your issue, and if not, that the internal review process will be able to resolve your complaint. If you remain unhappy you can ask any Member of Parliament to send your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman can carry out independent investigations into complaints about public bodies. Its role is to look at the process we have followed in handling your case, rather than to look at the merits of the decision itself. If your complaint is upheld, the Ombudsman can recommend that we provide a remedy.
Contact details for the Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Complaints helpline: 0345 015 4033 www.ombudsman.org.uk
You can write to Members of Parliament at:
House of Commons
Westminster
London
SW1A 0AA