Legal
Complaints procedure
1. What this procedure covers
This procedure applies to complaints about the service provided by Accident Claims Team (a trading name of Venture Marketing North West Ltd). For example, you might complain about:
- how a member of our team spoke to you or treated you;
- information we gave you about our service;
- how we handled your personal data;
- the decision to introduce you (or not to introduce you) to a partner.
If your complaint is about a partner law firm or a partner credit hire provider (for example, about the quality of legal advice, about a credit hire agreement, or about how that partner has handled your claim), you will need to complain to that partner directly. They are each required to have their own complaints procedure. If you tell us about a complaint relating to a partner, we will pass it on to them, but the partner will then deal with the complaint itself.
2. How to complain
You can make a complaint by any of the following means. We will accept complaints in any reasonable form, including verbally.
- By phone: 0303 003 2160
- By email: info@vmnw.co.uk(please put “Complaint” in the subject line)
- By post: The Complaints Manager, Venture Marketing North West Ltd, 4 Hattersley Court, Ormskirk, England, L39 2AY
To help us look into your complaint quickly, please tell us:
- your full name, address and contact details;
- what happened and when;
- the names of any of our staff involved, if you know them;
- what you would like us to do to put things right;
- a daytime telephone number on which we can reach you.
We will not charge you for making a complaint. You do not need to use a claims management company, solicitor or any other paid representative to complain to us.
3. How we will handle your complaint
The FCA's DISP rules set the standards we follow. The key time limits are:
| Stage | What we will do | By when |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledgement | We will send you written acknowledgement of your complaint, confirming the name and job title of the person who will be dealing with it. | Promptly, normally within 5 business days of receiving your complaint |
| Investigation | We will investigate the complaint fairly and impartially. We may contact you to ask for more information or to clarify what happened. | As quickly as possible |
| Update | If we cannot resolve your complaint within 4 weeks, we will send you a written update telling you why we still need more time and when we expect to provide our final response. | Within 4 weeks of receiving your complaint |
| Final response | We will send you a written final response. It will set out our decision, the reasons for it, and any offer of redress (such as an apology, an explanation or financial compensation). It will also explain your right to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service. | By the end of 8 weeks from the date we received your complaint, at the latest |
If we are unable to provide a final response within 8 weeks, we will write to you to explain why, and tell you when we expect to be able to do so. At that point, you will also have the right to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
4. If you are not satisfied with our response
If you are unhappy with our final response, or if we have not given you a final response within 8 weeks, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The Financial Ombudsman Service is an independent body that resolves disputes between consumers and financial services firms (including FCA-authorised claims management companies). Its service is free for consumers.
You normally need to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service within 6 months of the date of our final response letter. You should send a copy of our final response letter with your referral. You can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service as follows:
- Website: financial-ombudsman.org.uk
- Phone: 0800 023 4567 (free from UK landlines and mobiles) or 0300 123 9123
- Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
- Post: Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR
The Financial Ombudsman Service will look at the facts independently and decide what (if anything) we should do to put things right. Its decision is binding on us if you accept it.
5. Complaints about how we use your personal data
If your complaint is specifically about how we have used your personal data, you can also complain directly to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at any time, although we would ask you to give us the chance to put things right first. You can contact the ICO at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
6. Our records
We keep records of all complaints (whether resolved informally or formally) for at least 3 years from the date of our final response, in line with the FCA's DISP rules. We use complaint records to monitor the quality of our service and to identify any changes we need to make.