Complaints Procedure

Your views are important to us and if we do not deliver to the high standard of service you should expect, or if we make a mistake, we want to know. We will investigate your complaint and try to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. 

How we handle complaints
Please contact us at your earliest convenience with the following information: 

• Your full name, address and telephone number 
• Details of any previous correspondence you’ve had with us 
• Details of your problem or complaint 
• We will try to give you an answer there and then, but if this is not possible, we will take full details from you and arrange for the problem to be investigated. 

You can contact us in one of the following ways:

In writing: Durham’s Heating Services, Unit 1a Stirling Road, West Carr Industrial Estate, Retford, Notts. DN22 7SN

By Phone: 01777 702684

By email: nicola@durhamsheating.co.uk

FCA Ruling 

Durham Gas Services Limited has established, and maintains, effective and transparent procedures for the reasonable and prompt handling of complaints.  

In considering complaints, a firm should have regard to FCA Principle six (customers’ interests). When it identifies problems, root causes or compliant failures, Durham Gas Services Limited must consider whether it ought to act on its own initiative regarding the position of customers who may have suffered detriment from or been potentially disadvantaged by such factors but who have not complained.   

Also, Durham Gas Services Limited will use the information it gains from dealing with complaints to monitor the adequacy and effectiveness of its measures and procedures to detect and thus minimise the risk of compliance failures in the future.   

Definition of a Complaint 

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction, whether oral or in writing, and whether justified or not, from or on behalf of an eligible complainant about that firm’s provision of, or failure to provide, a financial or other service or activity.  

References to a complaint also include an expression of dissatisfaction which can become a relevant new complaint.   

All firms must refer in writing to the availability of its internal complaint handling procedures. 

Details of its internal complaint handling procedures must be published, and a copy supplied on request to a client and automatically to a complainant when Durham Gas Services Limited receives a complaint (unless the complaint is resolved by close of business the following day). 

Complaints must be investigated by someone with enough competence and who, where appropriate, was not directly involved in the matter which is the subject of the complaint.  

Durham Gas Services Limited is responsible for the acknowledgement, investigation and resolution of complaints. Staff are responsible for the timely provision of enough information to be provided to Nicola Durham for this activity.   

Procedures for Complaint Handling 

When a complaint is received it must be passed to Nicola Durham within 24 hours of receipt.   

If the complaint is made over the telephone, you must always be polite and as much detail as possible must be obtained. Following your conversation with the complainant and subsequent provision of information to us, Nicola Durham will write to the client within 5 business days of the original receipt of the complaint to acknowledge the complaint and confirm the understanding of the client’s complaint.  

Time Limits 

Acknowledgement of the complaints must be made in writing and within 5 business days of receipt, giving the name or job title of the person handling the complaint within Durham Gas Services Limited together with a copy of Durham Gas Services Limited’s internal complaint handling procedures. 

Complaints will be dealt with promptly. If a final response can be provided within the initial 5 days, it is possible to combine the acknowledgement of the complaint with the final response.  

To enable the complaint to be addressed as soon as possible, and within the Treating Customers Fairly policy, staff may be required to provide a written report surrounding their recollections of the sale/transaction in question and such reports must be provided promptly having been given suitable priority.  

If the complaint is not resolved within 4 weeks of receiving the complaint, Durham Gas Services Limited must send either a final response or a holding response. The latter will explain why Durham Gas Services Limited is not yet able to resolve the complaint and indicate when further contact can be expected. This should be within 8 weeks of receipt of the complaint.  

By the end of the 8 weeks after Durham Gas Services Limited received the complaint, Durham Gas Services Limited must send the complainant either: 

• A final response, or 
• A response which explains why Durham Gas Services Limited is still not able to make a final response, giving reasons for the further delay and indicating when it expects to be able to provide a final response. 

At this time, Durham Gas Services Limited must also inform the complainant that they can refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if they are dissatisfied with the delay (provided that this is done within the necessary timeframe) and send them a copy of the FOS explanatory leaflet.  

When investigating a complaint, Durham Gas Services Limited must ensure that consideration is given to any consequential or prospective financial loss in addition to actual loss.  

Final Response 

When sending a final response, this must inform the complainant that he can refer the complaint to the FOS if he is dissatisfied with the final response and he must do so within 6 months. 

Durham Gas Services Limited will enclose a copy of the FOS explanatory leaflet (unless already previously done). 

Where Durham Gas Services Limited decides that redress is appropriate, Durham Gas Services Limited will aim to provide fair and appropriate compensation for any acts or omissions for which it was responsible and comply with any offer of redress which the complainant accepts. 

All relevant employees must be aware of Durham Gas Services Limited’s complaint handling procedures and must endeavour to ensure that the employees act in accordance with them. 

Controls 

There must be appropriate management controls and Durham Gas Services Limited must take reasonable steps to ensure that, in complying with the FCA complaint handling rules, we handle complaints fairly, consistently and promptly and that it identifies and remedies any recurring or systemic problems, as well as any specific problem identified by a complaint.  

Complaint Record-Keeping and Reporting 

All regulated firms must make and retain records of complaints for a minimum period of three years from the date of its receipt of the complaint.  

These records should include: 

• The name of the complainant 
• The substance of the complaint and any correspondence between Durham Gas Services Limited and the complainant, including details of any redress offered by Durham Gas Services Limited.

All data is stored as per GDPR 2021 (UK)