Complaints procedure

Use it whenever you are unhappy with something we have done or failed to do: the standard of the work, the way a case has been handled, how long something has taken, a fee, or the way you have been treated.

You do not need to call it a complaint, and you will not be treated any differently for making one. Most problems are resolved by someone taking a proper look at what happened, which is what this procedure is for.

If your concern is about the local planning authority’s decision rather than about us, tell us anyway. That is not a complaint about our service, but it may well be something we can help with.

Write to planning@annexecert.co.uk, or use the contact form, and mark it as a complaint so it is routed correctly.

It helps if you can tell us:

• your name, and the case reference if you have one;
• what happened, and roughly when;
• who you dealt with, if you know; and
• what you would like us to do about it.

You can complain by telephone if you would rather. We will make a written note of it and send you a copy so you can check we have understood.

We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within three working days and tell you who is looking at it.

That person will review the case file and the correspondence, speak to anyone involved, and send you a full written response within fifteen working days of the acknowledgement. The response will say what we found, whether we agree with you, and what we propose to do.

If a complaint is complicated and we need longer, we will tell you before the fifteen days are up, explain why, and give you a date.

If our stage one response does not resolve matters, tell us within twenty working days and say why you remain dissatisfied.

The complaint will then be reviewed by someone who was not involved in the original response or in the work complained of, so far as that is possible within a firm of our size. That review will be completed within a further fifteen working days, and its outcome is our final written response.

Depending on what has gone wrong, we may:

• explain what happened, where the answer is that we did what we should have done;
• apologise, where we did not;
• redo work at our own cost;
• reduce or refund a fee; or
• change how we do something, so the same thing does not happen to somebody else.

What we cannot do is change the local planning authority’s decision, or compensate you for a decision that went against you where the work was properly done.

Planning consultancy is not an activity covered by a single mandatory redress scheme, so there is no ombudsman we can direct you to, and we would rather say that plainly than imply otherwise.

Your remaining options are the ordinary ones: independent legal advice, and if it comes to it, the courts. Where your complaint concerns how we have handled your personal information, you can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk, as set out in our privacy notice.

We keep a record of every complaint, what it concerned, and how it was resolved, and we review them so that recurring problems are dealt with at the cause rather than one case at a time.

Complaint records are held with the case file and retained for the same period, as described in our privacy notice.