TIO Annual Report 2003/04

Summary of Complaint Handling Performance

Complaint Outcomes

When a Level 2, 3 or 4 complaint is closed or resolved, staff record an ‘outcome’. This is based on their understanding of whether the complainant believes the case to have been resolved partially or substantially in their favour, or partially or substantially in the Member’s favour.

Neutral outcomes are also recorded but these are mainly where a Level 2 or 3 complaint has not been resolved and requires escalation and further investigation, or where a complaint has had several ‘issues’ but only one has been formally investigated.

In 2003/04, there was a significant increase in the percentage of complaints judged to have been resolved partially or substantially in favour of the complainant - 62.0% - up from 54.9% in 2002/03. Correspondingly, complaints judged to be partially or substantially resolved in favour of the Member dropped from 24.1% last financial year to 21.5% in 2003/04.

This is a disappointing result, indicating that Members may not always fully investigate and resolve complaints in a fair and reasonable manner until the TIO becomes involved. On the other hand, ACIF Codes and TIO Position Statements now form benchmarks against which proposed outcomes can more easily be judged fair and reasonable. Members should always examine these tools when they are handling complaints internally. This might lead to a decrease in the number of complaints to the TIO.