Equality Advisory & Support Service

Complaints policy and procedure

1. The standard of service we provide.
2. The behaviour of our staff.
3. If you feel we have failed to meet our published service standards.
4. You’re unhappy about another aspect of the service and wish to bring this to our attention.

1. Dissatisfaction with policies or processes over which we have no influence or control.
2. The remit of the service we provide.
3. Current legislation.
4. Matters which have already been fully investigated through this complaints procedure.
5. We cannot consider anonymous complaints.    

• email
• letter

• text-phone
• telephone (one of our advisers will help you by writing out your complaint)

• accept responsibility and apologise;
• explain what went wrong and why; and
• put things right by making any changes required;
• learn lessons from mistakes and change policies and practices where proportionate and sensible to do so.

• A full apology, explaining what happened and/or what went wrong. (An apology is not an acceptance of liability under Section 2 of the Compensation Act 2006).
• Remedial action, which may include reviewing or changing a decision on the service given to an individual complainant, or revising the advice that we offer.
• Provide the service required in the first instance (immediately, if appropriate).
• Putting things right with the service (for example a change of procedure to prevent future difficulties of a similar kind, either for the complainant or others).
• Training or supervising staff; or a combination of both.    

Policy on dealing with abusive, unreasonably persistent or vexatious customers

1. Introduction
1.1      Dealing with an enquiry is a straightforward process, but in a small number of cases, people pursue their enquiries in a way that can either obstruct the consideration of their issue or can have significant resource implications for the EASS. This can happen either while their enquiry is being considered or investigated, or once the EASS has finished dealing with the enquiry.

1.2      We are committed to dealing with all customers equitably, comprehensively, and in a timely manner.

1.3      We will not normally limit the contact which customers have with the EASS helpline.

1.4      Raising legitimate queries or criticisms of EASS processes, for example if agreed timescales are not met, should not in itself lead to someone being regarded as a vexatious or an unreasonably persistent customer.

1.5      Similarly, the fact that a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of an enquiry and seeks to challenge it once, or more than once, should not necessarily cause him or her to be labelled vexatious or unreasonably persistent.

1.6     However, we do not expect staff to tolerate unacceptable behaviour by customers. Unacceptable behaviour includes conduct which is abusive, offensive or threatening and may include:

Using abusive or foul language on the telephone

Using abusive or foul language face to face

Being discriminatory i.e. racist or sexist towards a member of the Helpline Team

Making excessive phone calls

Sending excessive emails

Leaving excessive voicemails

1.7      We will take action to protect staff from such behaviour. If a customer behaves in a way that is abusive, unreasonably persistent or vexatious, we will follow this policy.

1.8     This policy should be read in conjunction with the Complaints Policy for the EASS.



2. Aim of this policy

2.1      The aim of this policy is to contribute to our overall aim of dealing with all customers in a way which is consistent, fair and reasonable.

2.2      It sets out the criteria we will use to determine if a customer should be treated as abusive, unreasonably persistent or vexatious, and what we will do in those circumstances. The policy is for the information of staff and clients.

3. Definitions

3.1      We have adopted the Local Government Ombudsman’s (LGO) definition of “unreasonable complainant behaviour” and “unreasonable persistent complaints”

3.3     We define abusive customers as those who use “foul” or demeaning language or who, either through the use of abusive or threatening language or a clearly threatening manner or tone, intend to intimidate or demean our advisors. Abusive or threatening behaviour is where you think that you have been personally abused or threatened as a result of another’s behaviour.
3.2      We define unreasonably persistent customers as those who, because of the frequency of their contacts with the EASS, hinder our consideration of their or other people’s enquiries.

3.3     We define vexatious customers as those who persistently contact the service about the same issue despite having been informed that the service cannot provide further help or advice to them.

3.4     The description ‘unreasonably persistent’ and ‘vexatious’ may apply separately or jointly to a particular customer.

3.4      Examples include the way or frequency that customers raise their issues with staff, or how customers respond when informed of our decision about their enquiry.

3.5      Features of an unreasonably persistent and/or vexatious customer include the following (the list is not exhaustive, nor does one single feature on its own necessarily imply that the person will be considered as being in this category):

An unreasonably persistent and/or vexatious customer may:

contact the EASS an unreasonable number of times in relation to a specific enquiry or enquiries

persistently approach the EASS through different routes about the same issue

have insufficient or no grounds for their enquiry and be making the enquiry only to annoy (or for reasons that he or she does not admit or make obvious)

refuse to specify the grounds of an enquiry despite offers of assistance

refuse to co-operate with the investigation process while still wishing their enquiry to be resolved

refuse to accept that issues are not within the remit of the EASS to investigate, change or influence (examples could be a complaint about not offering legal assistance, or something that is the responsibility of another organisation)

persist in seeking an outcome which we have explained is unrealistic for legal or other valid reasons

complain about or challenge an issue based on a historic and irreversible decision or incident

insist on the enquiry being dealt with in ways which are incompatible with the investigation procedure or with good practice (insisting, for instance, that there must not be any written record of the enquiry)

make what appear to be groundless complaints about the staff dealing with an enquiry, and seek to have them dismissed or replaced

make persistent and unreasonable demands or expectations of staff after the unreasonableness has been explained to the customer (an example of this could be a customer who insists on immediate responses to numerous, frequent and/or complex letters, faxes, telephone calls or emails)

introduce trivial or irrelevant new information whilst an enquiry is being considered and expect this to be taken into account and commented on

change the substance or basis of an enquiry without reasonable justification whilst the enquiry is being addressed

deny statements he or she made at an earlier stage in the consideration process

refuse to accept documented evidence as factual

electronically record meetings and conversations without the prior knowledge and consent of the other person involved

In relation to complaints:
refuse to accept the outcome of the complaint process after its conclusion, repeatedly arguing the point, complaining about the outcome, and/or denying that an adequate response has been given

make the same complaint repeatedly, perhaps with minor differences, after the complaints procedure has been concluded, and insist that the minor differences make these 'new' complaints which should be put through the full complaints procedure

combine some or all of these features


4. Imposing restrictions

4.1      In the first instance a member of the EASS Management Team will consult with the Head of Operations prior to issuing a warning to the customer. A member of the Management Team will contact the customer either by phone, in writing or by email to explain why this behaviour is causing concern, and ask them to change this behaviour. The Management Team member will explain the actions that the EASS may take if the behaviour does not change.

4.2      If the disruptive behaviour continues, the Head of Operations will issue a reminder letter to the customer advising them that the way in which they will be allowed to contact the EASS will be restricted in future and what procedures may have been put in place for dealing with the customer and for what period.

4.3      Any restriction that is imposed on the customer’s contact with the EASS will be appropriate and proportionate. In most cases any restriction will apply for between 1 and 6 months but in exceptional cases this may be extended. In such cases the restriction would be reviewed on a quarterly basis.

4.4     Restrictions will be tailored to deal with the individual circumstances of the complainant and may include:

Banning the customer from making contact by telephone except through a third party e.g. solicitor/friend/advocate acting on their behalf

Restrict the customer to email/letter or chat contact only.

If email/letter/chat contact is abusive, unreasonably persistent or vexatious, advise customer that responses will be restricted or refused, in any or all contact areas.  

Requiring contact to take place with one named member of staff only

Restricting telephone calls to specified days / times / duration

Letting the customer know that we will not reply to or acknowledge any further contact from them on the specific topic of that issue (in this case, a designated member of staff should be identified who will read future correspondence)

Terminating any phone contact should the above conditions be ignored

4.5      When the decision has been taken to apply this policy to a customer, the Head of Operations will contact the complainant in writing to explain:

why we have taken the decision

what action we are taking

the duration of that action

the review process of this policy.

4.6      The Head of Operations will enclose a copy of this policy in any correspondence letters to the customer/complainant.

4.7      Where a customer continues to behave in a way which is unacceptable, the Head of Operations, in consultation with the Government Equalities Office (which sponsors the service), may decide to refuse all contact with the customer and stop any investigation into his or her enquiry.

4.8      Where the behaviour is so extreme or it threatens the immediate safety and welfare of staff, we will consider other options, for example reporting the matter to the police or taking legal action. In such cases, we may not give the customer prior warning of that action.

5. New enquiries from customers who are treated as abusive, vexatious or persistent

5.1      New enquiries from people who have come under this policy will be treated on their merits. The Head of Operations will decide whether any restrictions which have been applied before are still appropriate and necessary in relation to the new enquiry. We do not support a “blanket policy” of ignoring genuine service requests or enquiries where they are genuine.

5.2      The fact that a customer is judged to be unreasonably persistent or vexatious, and any restrictions imposed on our contact with him or her, will be recorded and notified to those who need to know within EASS and/or the Government Equalities Office.

6. Review

6.1      The status of a customer judged to be unreasonably persistent or vexatious will be reviewed by the Head of Operations after the relevant period has come to an end and at the end of every subsequent period thereafter to which this policy applies to see if the policy has been complied with and the effective “ban” be lifted or needs extending further.

7. Record keeping

7.1      Adequate records will be retained by the appropriate service manager of the details of the case and the action that has been taken. The Head of Operations will retain a record of:

The name, address, email and phone number of each customer who is treated as abusive, unreasonably persistent or vexatious
When the restriction came into force and ends
What the restrictions are
When the customer was advised  

7.2     The Head of Operations will keep an audit record of the customers who have been treated as vexatious/persistent as per this policy and report this on a quarterly basis to the Government Equalities Office.