Members have recently queried why they occasionally receive a Level 2 complaint letter less than 14 days after receiving e-mail notification that a Level 1 complaint has been logged.
In most cases, when the TIO logs a Level 1 complaint, it will refer the complainant back to the person or group you have nominated as your TIO contact. This gives you 14 days to resolve the complaint before the TIO would consider investigating it. A Level 2 might only be raised if the complainant contacts us again and the complaint is still unresolved.
However, in a small number of cases, the TIO might decide that a complaint warrants immediate investigation at Level 2, without giving the member 14 days to resolve the complaint at Level 1. This may happen when the complainant has already spoken with the TIO contact point, or if the complaint is quite complex and has been going on for some time.
When this happens, a Level 1 complaint is logged at the first point of contact, the complainant is asked to write in, and the Level 2 complaint is raised when the letter is received.
Some members who have elected to be notified of their Level 1 complaints via an automatically generated e-mail have queried why the Level 2 complaint has been raised before the 14-day time frame for Level 1 complaint resolution has expired.
While the TIO almost always does so, the practice of referring a Level 1 complaint back to a member, is discretionary. Level 1 complaints may occasionally be raised to account for the time spent with the complainant at the initial point of contact and the Level 2 complaint raised when the investigation is initiated.
To improve communication with members and minimise confusion, an informal procedure has been introduced. If the TIO officer has decided not to refer a complaint back to the member and if it is known that the member acts on e-mail notifications then the officer will telephone the member as a matter of courtesy, to inform them of this.
As usual, please contact the TIO’s Member Communications Team with any enquiries about this procedure.
