Debt Relief Order complaints

Debt Relief Order (DRO) – Complaint Handling Procedure

Baines & Ernst Limited:

1. within the UK has been designated by the Secretary of State as a Competent Authority under Regulation 3 of The Debt Relief Orders (Regulation of Competent Authorities) Regulations 2009 and
2. within Northern Ireland has been designated by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment as a Competent Authority under Regulation 2 of the Debt Relief Orders (Designation of Competent Authorities) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011.

This Procedure covers any complaint against Baines & Ernst in relation to DRO’s only in its capacity as a Competent Authority and complaints about the activities of any Approved Intermediary authorised by Baines & Ernst.

Our goal is to give excellent service to all of our customers, but we recognise that things can occasionally go wrong. We take all complaints we receive seriously and aim to resolve all of our customers’ problems fairly, promptly and efficiently. To ensure that we provide the kind of service you expect we welcome your feedback.

If at any time you are not happy with the service that we have given please telephone the business area you usually deal with in order to explain your concerns. Calls may be recorded and /or monitored for quality purposes. Alternatively, if you want to write to us please send your complaint to: Compliance Department, Baines & Ernst Limited, Lloyds House, 18 – 22 Lloyd Street, Manchester M2 5BE.

We aim to resolve all complaints satisfactorily within 10 working days of receipt; although where more detailed investigation is required the process may take longer. You will be kept informed of the time scale that will be required for us to investigate your complaint.

If we are unable to do resolve your complaint by the end of the next working day following receipt, we will write to you within 5 working days of receipt and inform you who is dealing with it.

We will review all necessary documentation and information to enable us to carry out a thorough investigation of your complaint. Most of our customers’ concerns can be resolved quickly but occasionally more detailed enquiries are needed. In some instances we may need you to provide us with further information or relevant authority to contact a third party.

Once an investigation of your concerns has been made, we will provide a written response to confirm our findings and the proposed resolution. Within 10 working days of receipt of your complaint we will provide you with a full written response. However, if we have been unable to complete our investigation within 10 working days we will provide you with an update at that time.

Our intended maximum response period for our final written response is 8 weeks from receipt of your original complaint. However, if we have been unable to complete our investigation within 8 weeks of receipt we will provide you with a further update at that time.

Clearly, we would always want to resolve any concerns you raise with us internally. However, should you remain dissatisfied following our final written response, or 8 weeks have elapsed since you raised your complaint with us and you and you are not happy with the progress made and wish to take this further, you have the right to refer the matter to:

1. The Secretary of State – for UK DRO cases only;
   or
2. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment – for Northern Ireland DRO cases only

Please note that contact details of the above organisations will be provided at the relevant time.

A copy of our DRO Complaints Handling Procedure is available from us upon request.

If your issues relate to any other product, service or advice provided by Baines & Ernst a copy of the relevant Complaint Handling Procedure is available from us upon request.

Following our Complaint Handling Procedures does not affect your right to take independent legal advice.