Aligned with RICS professional guidance, Complaints Handling (1st edn.; July 2016).
About This Guide:
This guides outlines:
- What is a complaint?
- Considerations for the Terms of Engagement
- Complaints Handling Promise
- Complaints Handling Procedure
- Independent Redress
What is a complaint
For the purpose of this guide a complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction. If you decide to express dissatisfaction via any channel, this is deemed a complaint. Please note that reporting a fault or a problem is not necessarily a complaint, rather a request of service.
Considerations for the Terms of Engagement
A customer’s reasonable expectations are set by the Terms of Engagement shared with them as part of the instruction process. However, we are aware not all complaints arise from matters contained within the Terms of Engagement. Therefore, Sterlingworth Surveyors follow best practices to minimise the risk of such issues arising by:
- Having direct contact with clients in the forms of directed, continuous email communication and direct dialogue over the phone or in-person.
Our surveyors abide by the RICS professional standards such as in the RICS Homebuyer Report, where:
- The surveyor has a duty to check, before the contract is signed and through communication (eg: telephone conversation, email) that the client is making the appropriate choice of survey, and they have a clear understanding of the key elements ofthe service contracted.
Complaints Handling Promise
On the off-chance that clients wish to make a formal complaint, Sterlingworth Surveyors promise to:
- Investigate registered complaints in their entirety; and
- Provide a tailored resolution to each complaint, striving to achieve mutually agreeable terms of resolution.
Complaints Handling Procedure
If our clients are not satisfied with our services, please contact us using the details below:
- Email: support@sterlingworthgroup.co.uk
- Telephone: 02077 709908
- Letter: Complaints Handling Team, Sterlingworth Surveyors LTD, Suite 29BChessington Business Centre, Chessington, Surrey, KT9 1SD.
When submitting a complaint, please provide the following details:
- Full Name
- Full Inspection Address
- Preferred Contact Details
- Details of your complaint, including any information you consider is relevant andsupportive of your complaint.
Clients can expect Sterlingworth Surveyors to:
- Acknowledge receipt of complaints within 7 days.
- Provide a full resolution of registered complaints within 28 days of acknowledgement.
- If investigations are not complete within the 28 days, we will provide an update on progress and explain when we anticipate being able to provide a full response.
Should clients remain unsatisfied, please contact our Client Care Director on:
- Email: khurrum@sterlingworthgroup.co.uk
- Letter: Mr Khurrum Taimuri, Client Care Team, Sterlingworth Surveyors LTD, Suite 29B Chessington Business Centre, Chessington, Surrey, KT9 1SD.
The team will acknowledge receipts of complaints in 7 days, and aim to provide resolutions within 28 days of acknowledgement.
Independent Redress:
Sterlingworth Surveyors is regulated by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). As part of an effective complaints handling procedure, under the RICS Rules of Conduct for firms, we must make provision to refer unresolved complaints to an independent third party with the authority to award redress.
The redress facility is available to those customers with whom Sterlingworth Surveyors has a relationship in contract and/or tort.
If you remain dissatisfied with any aspect of our handling of your complaint, please contact:
- Email: admin@tpos.co.uk
- Telephone: 01722 333306
- Letter: Milford House, 43 – 55 Milford Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 2BP.
- Website: https://www.tpos.co.uk/
Please note this facility may not be available for all complaints that relate to valuation opinion. These complaints will be referred, where necessary, to the instructing Lender client (if applicable) and our response will accord with any specific requirements they may have.
