Complaints Handling Policy & Procedure - The Lawyer's Voice

1 Complaints Handling Policy & Procedure 2013 1 Contents 1. INTRODUCTION .. 2 2. OBJECTIVE .. 2 3. WHAT IS A COMPLAINT? .. 3 4. GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE Complaints Handling .. 3 5. procedures .. 4 a) How a complaint may be made .. 4 b) What information is required when making a complaint? .. 4 c) Acknowledgement of Complaints .. 5 d) Complainant s rights during the complaint process .. 5 e) Response to a complaint .. 5 6. CREATION OF FILE FOR EVERY COMPLAINT .. 8 7. COMMUNICATION WITH COMPLAINANT .. 9 2 1. INTRODUCTION The Lawyer s Voice seeks to maintain its reputation as the Legal Insurance Broker by delivering high quality insurance services to its policyholders.

2 The Lawyer s Voice is also committed to maintaining its responsiveness to the needs and concerns of our policyholders and other stakeholders. The Lawyer s Voice is committed to provide excellent and quality service to all its current and prospective policyholders. In order to achieve this objective we have taken steps to develop the Complaint Handling Policy and Procedure ( The Policy ) which will articulate steps and Procedure which should be followed in the event of a complaint by our client. In preparing this Policy , The Lawyer s Voice has endeavoured to align our procedures with the relevant legal requirements and current best practice.

3 The Policy is designed to provide guidance on the manner in which The Lawyer s Voice receives and handles Complaints made against the company, its sales representatives, brokers, and its employees.. 2. OBJECTIVE The objective of the Policy is to assist the company, its Directors and employees in resolving Complaints in an efficient, speedily, effective and professional manner. In order to establish fair complaint Handling procedures and to standardize the management of Complaints , the Lawyer s Voice has adopted this Policy and Procedure . It is applicable to all written and oral Complaints received relative to insurance products or services distributed in all offices of the Lawyer s Voice in the Republic of South Africa.

4 All Complaints , not only those related to a potential violation or infringement of the laws and regulations, will be considered and thoroughly investigated and fairly addressed by the company. We are committed to delivering the best possible service to our policyholders, and have taken all necessary measures to inform all The Lawyer s Voice employees of our complaint Handling procedures . 3 3. WHAT IS A COMPLAINT? The Policy is intended to address Complaints made to The Lawyer s Voice directly. Under this Policy complaint is defined as follows: An expression of dissatisfaction made to The Lawyer s Voice , related to its services, or the Complaints - Handling process itself, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected.

5 Any person or organisation (the complainant) who is dissatisfied with our service, for any reason, may contact The Lawyer s Voice to lodge a complaint. A complaint may be oral or written. At times, Complaints can be by way of negative feedback, which may not require a resolution or formal follow-up. While this type of feedback is valuable, the Policy does not apply to feedback of this nature. 4. GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE Complaints Handling Management and staff of The Lawyer s Voice must consider and apply the following guiding principles of effective Complaints Handling : i. Accessibility- Our Complaints Handling Policy is readily accessible to all directors, management and general employees and clients.

6 The Policy is easy to understand and includes details on making and resolving Complaints . ii. Responsiveness- Receipt of each complaint is acknowledged to the complainant immediately. Complaints will be handled in an efficient and effective manner. Complainants will be treated courteously and kept informed of the progress of their complaint throughout the complaint- Handling process. iii. Objectivity- Each complaint is addressed in an equitable, objective and unbiased manner through the Complaints - Handling process. 4 iv. Confidentiality- Personally identifiable information concerning the complainant is actively protected from disclosure unless the complainant expressly consents to its disclosure.

7 V. Customer focused approach- All managers and employees of The Lawyer s Voice , including the members of the Board, and the Managing Director are committed to efficient and fair resolution of Complaints . We actively solicit feedback from our clients on a regular basis and acknowledge a client s right to complain. i. Accountability- All managers and employees accept responsibility for effective Complaints Handling . The Complaint s Officer will ensure that, where appropriate, issues raised in the Complaints Handling process are reflected in manager and employee performance evaluation.

8 5. procedures a) How a complaint may be made All Complaints should be made in writing so that the details of the complaint are clear and complete. If the complainant is illiterate it is the duty of the responsible office manager to assist the complainant in writing a complaint. b) What information is required when making a complaint? When making a complaint, the policyholder or client must provide the following information: Complainant s full particulars and contact details. The nature of the complaint (including when the conduct giving rise to the complaint occurred). Details of The Lawyer s Voice employee involved (if applicable).

9 Copies of any relevant documentation supporting the complaint. 5 c) Acknowledgement of Complaints We are committed to acknowledging all Complaints immediately upon receipt. Once a complaint has been received, we will undertake an initial review of the complaint. We will endeavour to resolve Complaints within five (5) weeks of receiving the complaint, but this will not be possible on all occasions. Where our review exceeds four weeks, we will contact the complainant to inform him/her of the reasons for the delay, and indicate to you when we expect to be in a position to complete our review of the complaint.

10 D) Complainant s rights during the complaint process The complainant has the right to enquire as to the status of his/her complaint by contacting the manager or employee who has been identified to handle the complaint. e) Response to a complaint Once we have reviewed the complaint, we will provide the complainant with a written response. If he/she is dissatisfied with our response, he/she has the right to ask for reconsideration of the response by the Complaint s Officer. Such a request should be made in writing and forwarded to the branch manager of the branch that handled the complaint.