Brief
These procedures apply to Annecto Marketing Ltd t/a Professional Leads
Professional Leads take every care to provide a high standard of service and seek to treat our customers and prospective customers courteously, efficiently and diligently. However, from time to time, an error may occur or there might be an aspect of our service that has caused you concern. This document sets out Professional Leads Procedures for handling complaints.
Professional Leads pledge to:
- Handle complaints fairly, consistently and promptly
- Resolve complaints at the earliest possible stage
- Identify and remedy any recurring or systemic problems, as well as any specific problem, identified by a complaint
- Where appropriate, to provide the complainant with fair compensation for any acts or omissions for which Professional Leads was responsible
- Ensure that all members of staff are aware of the Professional Leads internal complaint handling procedures and act in accordance with them
- Co-operate fully with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
Definition of a complaint
Any expression of dissatisfaction or unhappiness with any aspect of our service, at any stage during our business relationship.
How to make a complaint
You may make a complaint to us via any type of communication – by letter, fax or e-mail, or verbally via the telephone or in person. We will ensure that any complaint is promptly and thoroughly investigated and we will not ask you to confirm details in writing. Although all members of staff will be happy to assist you, may we ask that you please direct any complaint to the Compliance Manager of Professional Leads, whose contact details are shown below:
Jonathan McGee,
Managing Director,
45 Boroughgate,
Otley,
Leeds
Tel: 0113 3501615
email: complaints@professional-leads.co.uk
The Compliance Manager has been appointed by the principals of the firm as the most suitable individual to receive and oversee complaints, due to his seniority within the firm, independence from the advice function, qualifications and experience.
As most complaints are received by post, the post is checked daily, to ensure that these are referred to the Compliance Manager.
Receiving complaints
As soon as a complaint is received it will be brought to the attention of the Compliance Manager, who will maintain records of all complaints received and oversee the process. Failure to refer a complaint to the Compliance Manager is considered a serious disciplinary issue.
The Compliance Manager will decide how best the complaint is dealt with, for example, by either deciding to personally investigate the complaint, or by appointing a senior member of staff who is not involved with the issues surrounding the complaint to investigate it.
Where the complaint may involve an element of redress, the Compliance Manager will also appoint a principal of the business to authorise redress where appropriate.
All complaints or expressions of dissatisfaction are taken seriously. However, some issues (such as an administration issue) may best be dealt with quickly and relatively informally, although we feel it is always important to have an impartial approach and our procedures endeavour to deliver this. Accordingly, we may follow up such case by writing to you to see if you are satisfied with our response and that all your concerns have been addressed. This letter will also advise you of how to pursue your complaint with the firm if you remain dissatisfied.
If we are able to resolve a complaint by the close of the third business day following its receipt, to the satisfaction of the complainant, we will send a written ‘summary resolution communication’ by letter or email.
The ‘summary resolution communication will:
1. Give confirmation of the complaint which is considered to be resolved
2. Give confirmation that the complainant may be able to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if the complainant subsequently decides they are dissatisfied
3. Provide details of the relevant time limits to make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service
4. Provide the website address of the Financial Ombudsman Service
5. Refer to the availability of further information on the website of the Financial Ombudsman Service.
If we are unable to resolve a complaint by the close of the third business day following its receipt, the following procedures will apply.
Responding to complaints
Regardless of the method of communication by which the complaint is received, the Compliance Manager or another senior manager will acknowledge the complaint in writing as soon as possible, wherever possible on the date of receipt, or if not, within 5 working days of receipt.
The acknowledgment letter will:
1. Give the name and job title of the person handling the complaint within Professional Leads
2. Give details of Professional Leads internal complaint handling procedures
3. Confirm that the complaint will be investigated by a member of staff with sufficient competence, who is not directly involved in the matter which is the subject of complaint
4. Provide details of when a full response will be issued
5. Provide details of the timescales set down by our regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), to deal with complaints and your rights if these timescales are not adhered to.
And where complaints are made orally:
6. Give details of Professional Leads understanding of the nature of complaint and invite you to comment upon the accuracy of this understanding.
Sometimes our acknowledgment letter may be combined with our final response (see below). We will always aim to resolve complaints at the earliest possible stage.
Complaints involving other firms
If your complaint relates to another firm that we have recommended, we will refer the complaint to them within 5 working days of receipt and keep you fully informed. If we receive a complaint from another firm in connection with our advice or services, our standard complaints procedures will apply.
Keeping you informed
It is anticipated that the vast majority of complaints will be completed within four weeks of receipt. However, if we are not able to provide our full response within the timescale (for example where we are awaiting information or calculations) we will keep you informed with interim updates, which will explain why we are not yet in a position to resolve the complaint and indicating when we will make further contact. You are welcome at any time to contact us to check on the progress of your complaint.
The Investigation method
We will obtain and examine all relevant records and communications, which may take a little time, but as mentioned above, we will always endeavour to keep you informed. It may be that we need to ask you for further information, such as your recollections at the time and the advice that was given. We may also need to seek expert opinion from legal advisers or actuaries, the cost of which will be met by our firm. At all times the aim of the investigation is to be thorough and impartial, and to take account of rules and legislation applying at the time.
The Final response
As soon as the investigation has been completed, a report will follow. The aim is for the report to follow as soon as possible after the acknowledgment letter. If we are not able to provide our final response within eight weeks of receipt of the complaint we will provide a response which:
a.) Explains that we are still not in a position to make a final response, gives reasons for the further delay and indicates when we expect to be able to provide a final response, and
b.) Informs you of your right to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you are dissatisfied with the delay and provides details of how to contact the Ombudsman through provision of the explanatory booklet entitled “Your complaint and the Ombudsman”
When we send you our final response, we will:
a.) Provide details of how any offer of redress has been arrived at, to ensure that it is fair compensation for any acts or omissions for which we have been responsible
b.) Ask you to confirm in writing that the offer of redress is acceptable to you and how to pursue your complaint if you remain dissatisfied
c.) Informs you of your ultimate right to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you remain dissatisfied with the final response and that you must do so within 6 months
d.) Enclose a copy of the explanatory booklet entitled “Your complaint and the Ombudsman”, unless we have already done so
Where we are able to provide a final response within five days of receipt of a complaint, we may combine our acknowledgment letter with the final response.
