In summary
- The FAS Operational Unit (FAS OU) aims to respond to your complaints within seven working days.
- If you are not satisfied with our initial response, you may refer your complaint through two levels of senior management. We will explain how you can do this.
- If you are not satisfied with the senior manager’s response, you can write to the Independent Case Examiner. But first you must have given us the chance to respond.
We want to deal with your concerns as soon as they come up. This helps us to solve problems quickly and to stop similar problems in the future. If you have a complaint, please contact us.
How to complain
It is important that all feedback is handled at the point where it has arisen. This ensures problems are resolved quickly, lessons learned and processes changed to stop similar incidents happening in the future. If you have a complaint, please contact the Financial Assistance Scheme Operational Unit by phone, post, fax or email.
We aim to reply to your complaint within seven working days of receiving it. If we cannot deal with it within seven working days, we will tell you why. We will also tell you if we need more information and when you can expect a reply.
If you are not satisfied with the response to your initial complaint, tell us. It will then go to a senior manager at the FAS OU who will aim to resolve your complaint. If you are not happy with the answer you receive at this level you may approach the Head of the Operational Unit.
If you think we have not dealt with your complaint properly, you can write to the Independent Case Examiner. But before doing this, you must have given us the chance to respond to your complaint.
If you are still not satisfied
The Independent Case Examiner looks into complaints about the FAS from people who are not happy with how the FAS has handled their case. The Independent Case Examiner is independent of the FAS and there is no charge for using the service.
The Independent Case Examiner will look into your complaint as long as you contact them within six months of receiving a final reply from the Head of the FAS OU.
The Independent Case Examiner will examine a case if they are satisfied that you have received a final response to your complaint from the Head of our Operational Unit.
The Independent Case Examiner cannot look at a complaint if:
- the FAS has not been given the opportunity to resolve the case first;
- it is more than six months since the FAS final response;
- the complaint is about legislation;
- the specific complaint has been, or is being, investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman; or
- the complaint is the subject of legal proceedings, such as judicial review.
You can find out more on the Independent Case Examiner's website.
Can I get help to make my complaint?
If you would like some help in making a complaint about the service you have received from the FAS, you could do the following: