Our service standards

We are  committed to providing the highest possible standard of customer service. Our service standards set out how we will work with you and what you can expect from us:

• we will make sure we understand your circumstances and needs. We will tell you what we can and can’t do, and the reasons why
• we will tell you about other organisations that may be able to help you if we can’t
• we will have a clear and transparent process to handle any complaints or feedback you have about our service
• we will always treat you with respect and courtesy
• we will make sure our service is accessible and meets your needs
• we will ask you how you want to be kept informed about the progress of our work, and how often you want to be contacted
• we will be open and honest with you about how long we think our work will take. If we think we will take longer than anticipated, we will let you know and explain why
• we will explain our processes to you and what you can expect from us at every stage of our work
• we will tell you our finding(s) in relation to your case, which will be independent and based on all the evidence that is available to us
• we will apologise straightforwardly and genuinely when our service falls short, or we have made mistakes
• we will keep any information we have about you safe and secure, and will use it only as described in our privacy notice.

Communicating with you

We will be polite, professional and treat you with respect. We understand that people who contact us might sometimes be frustrated, or angry. We also have a responsibility to protect the safety and welfare of our staff and we will not accept abusive, aggressive or threatening behaviour. 

We will give you direct contact details for the relevant member of staff when we deal with your complaint or appeal, or investigate your case. If the person you need to speak to is unavailable, you can leave a voicemail to request a call back.  

Alternatively, our Customer Contact Centre can resolve your query or put you in touch with the relevant team. We welcome telephone calls in Welsh. We aim to acknowledge email enquiries within two working days and provide a full response within ten working days. Phone messages will normally be returned by the end of the next working day.

We do not operate a face-to-face service. We will contact you by phone or in writing. Calls may be recorded for our joint protection, and for training purposes. We only accept visitors to our offices who have a pre-arranged appointment. 

It might be necessary for us to limit the way we communicate with individual customers and the frequency of that contact in order to manage our work effectively and provide a fair service to all. This only applies in certain circumstances.