We aim to provide outstanding customer service, so we welcome all feedback, both good and bad.
We understand that complaints are a valuable form of customer feedback. Our aim is to resolve complaints quickly, and to use the data and learning from complaints to improve our services.
When you raise your complaint, you deserve only the highest standards so we make sure we meet the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code and the Regulator of Social Housing’s consumer standards as they ensure we do right by you. Read our Complaints Policy here.
Our definition of a complaint is in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code. We define a complaint as:
an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the landlord, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting a resident or group of residents.
We’ll treat any such expression of dissatisfaction as a complaint even if you haven’t used the word ‘complaint’.
We recognise the difference between an initial request for service and complaints and will take appropriate steps to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
It would be great if you could let us know straight away when there’s a problem, so we can get back on track quickly
You can contact us by:
If you’d like to talk to us through social media, please remember that our pages are public. We want to keep your personal data safe so we might recommend that we switch to a safer channel. We’ll still communicate digitally if that’s what you prefer.
As long as you agree, we’ll accept complaints from anyone acting on your behalf. For example, this could be family members, MPs and other organisations such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and Citizens Advice.
If you don’t want to tell us who you are that’s fine. We’ll treat anonymous complaints seriously too. We’ll keep you updated as long as you tell us how to.
We want to hear from everyone. We’ll make reasonable adjustments to accommodate your individual needs and comply with the Equality Act 2010. We’ll provide an interpreter or British Sign Language interpreter if needed. Please tell us about any adjustments you need if we forget to ask.
First and foremost – we’ll start by listening to you to make sure we understand how the issue is affecting you and what you want us to do to put things right. We’ll be clear, honest and committed to finding a resolution for you.
We'll make it easy for you to get a resolution to your complaint. Here is how it works.
When we receive your complaint, we’ll send you an acknowledgment within five working days and confirm that we’re working on a resolution. You’ll have your own dedicated Moat colleague keeping you up to date and they’ll let you know the outcome within ten working days from our acknowledgement.
Our aim is to fully resolve your complaint. If you’re not satisfied with the answer we’ve provided in response to your complaint, we will, if you ask us to, arrange for a complaint review to be done by one of our senior colleagues. You’ll need to request this within 10 working days of us letting you know the outcome of your initial complaint.
We’ll acknowledge your request for a complaint review within five working days of receiving it and complete the complaint review within twenty working days of receiving your request.
In exceptional circumstances we may need to extend the timescales at stage 1 or stage 2 of our complaints process. We’ll provide you with a clear explanation for this and seek your agreement. Any extension should not exceed 10 working days.
If you remain unhappy with how we’re dealing with or have dealt with your complaint, you can contact the Housing Ombudsman at any time if you’re are a tenant, shared owner, or leaseholder:
Housing Ombudsman Service
PO Box 152
Liverpool
L33 7WQ
Telephone: 0300 111 3000
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk
If you’re a customer on the Stanhope estate, where we manage properties on behalf of Ashford Borough Council, we’ll manage your complaint in line with the Council’s complaint process. You can find it on their website: www.ashford.gov.uk or by calling 01233 331111.
We’ll always try to help resolve service issues. Sometimes there will be issues that we can’t deal with as a complaint, for example:
We want you to have the best experience living in your home. Our ‘Lessons learned’ section highlights the improvements we've made based on the valuable insights you've shared with us when making a complaint.
We're committed to learning from any mistakes and continuously improving our services to exceed your expectations. Your opinion matters, and we're grateful for the opportunity to address your concerns and create a better living environment for you.
To see a summary of our monthly complaints performance and our performance for 2023/24, please see our effective handling of complaints page.
Our complaints performanceWe are regulated by the Housing Ombudsman Service, an independent and free point of call that looks at customer complaints. You may wish to contact them for advice and guidance if you’ve made a complaint with us. You can get in touch with them at any point during your complaint:
Our annual complaints handling report and self-assessment
Since 1 April 2024, we've adopted a new Complaint Handling Code to serve you better. This Code comes from the Housing Ombudsman Service and is designed to ensure we address your concerns fairly and quickly.
What this means for you:
We're required to submit an annual complaints handling performance report and self-assessment form against the Code.
You can read our latest report here and self-assessment form here.
Our Board's response to our report and self-assessment:
“Your feedback is invaluable to us, especially when our services fall short. It helps shine a light on the areas where we need to improve.
We’re sorry that our responses to your concerns and the quality of our repairs service have not always met the high standards you rightly expect. As a Board, we take any failure to deliver on our promises very seriously. Please know that we hear you loud and clear and we're committed to making things right. We’ll continue to actively listen to your feedback and take the necessary actions to address any issues.
Over the next 12 months, we’ll be focusing on improving our complaint resolution process and providing you with a consistently reliable, high-quality repairs experience.”
