Closing complaints

Complaints should be closed once a decision has been issued rather than when any agreed action has taken place. This helps organisations to accurately track data in relation to the timeliness of their responses.

Organisations should have processes in place for tracking the progress of any agreed actions once the complaint is closed. Complainants should be kept updated on the progress of any agreed actions and the organisation should confirm once these are completed.

If an organisation fails to complete any agreed actions or fails to complete these within agreed timescales, it should inform the individual of the reasons for this and signpost them to stage 2 or the Ombudsman. It would not normally be reasonable to expect an individual to go back through the complaints process to complain about an organisation’s failure to take action it had agreed in response to a complaint.