Complaints Procedure

What to do if you have a complaint

We welcome feedback from our client’s lessees as it assists us in assessing where we can make improvements to our service.

Whilst we will always seek to provide an outstanding service, things sometimes can go wrong, or you may feel that we have not met your needs fully or to your satisfaction. If this should happen, in the first instance, please contact your Property Management Team directly.

You can contact your Property Management Team by email or by writing to:
Galliard Estate Management Ltd (GEM)
7-8 Dreadnought Walk
Greenwich
SE10 9FP

Or by email to your relevant team:
GEM Property Management Team 1: PMTeam1@gemlimited.co.uk
GEM Property Management Team 2: PMTeam2@gemlimited.co.uk
GEM Property Management Team 3: PMTeam3@gemlimited.co.uk
Tel: 0208 418 3738

They will listen to your concerns and what you would like done about them. In most cases we anticipate they will be able to resolve your concern quickly and effectively for you. If they feel it is something they cannot deal with they will be able to advise you who will be able to assist you.

This will be the fastest and most effective way to resolve the majority of problems. However, if that is not possible, you can ask us to review your concerns through our formal complaints’ procedure. If you are a rental tenant in your property, you should refer the matter in the first instance to your landlord or agent.

The complaints procedure is not designed to deal with the following queries:
• General enquiries and requests such as service charge account queries and reporting problems for the first time.
• Complaints by one resident about another unless your lease allows for this.
• Defects within your own demised property unless the problem is caused by a problem within the communal areas for which we are responsible.
Examples of issues that you might want us to look into through our formal complaints’ procedure are: –
• You feel we have failed to follow our own policies or failed to follow procedure of law.
• We have failed to act appropriately, such as carry out a repair promptly or have been negligent in some manner.
• We have not responded to you fully or within a reasonable time frame.
• You believe we have discriminated against or acted unfairly against you.
• You have a problem with the behaviour or actions of one of the employees of GEM Ltd
We realise that making complaints can be both time-consuming and stressful. We have therefore set up our 3-step procedure which will help us review your concerns swiftly and fairly to achieve a satisfactory outcome.

If you are unable to resolve your query via your team and wish to log a formal complaint please send details of your complaint and desired resolution to Gem Complaints – gemcomplaints@gemlimited.co.uk which will follow the process set out below.

Stage 1 Management Review

You can ask any of our staff to raise a Stage 1 complaint review for you, which can be done face to face or in writing or over the telephone.

Assuming the Property Manager has already had an opportunity of considering your concerns the matter will be passed on to a different member of staff. If your complaint is about a member of staff, the Human Resources Department of Galliard Homes Ltd (Our parent Company) may also be involved.

If your complaint is likely to take some time to investigate, we aim to acknowledge it within three working days, setting out the steps we propose to take and the length of time we will anticipate it will take.

In the vast majority of cases, we anticipate being able to conclude matters within ten working days. We will advise you if we need longer and why.

Wherever possible we will seek to reach a suitable outcome for you. If this is not possible, we will advise you in writing with the reasons. If we cannot reach an agreement with you this is known by The Property Ombudsman service as a Stage 1 response.

Stage 2 Senior Management Review

We will always try and resolve issues internally and anticipate in the vast majority of cases that we will succeed in doing so.

If you are not satisfied with the Stage 1 Response you can escalate the response to Stage 2. You will need to clearly explain what it is about the Stage 1 response that you are not satisfied with and also what outcome you are seeking.

A second review will take place, carried out with a more senior member of staff. Time scales as set out in Stage 1 will apply again.

Stage 3 External Review

We will always try and resolve issues internally and anticipate in the vast majority of cases that we will succeed in doing so. However, if we cannot fully satisfy you and you have received our Stage 2 letter you may seek an independent external review of our actions.

Galliard Estate Management Ltd are members of The Property Ombudsman service (TPO). They are a fully independent review body for the property industry. Their contact details are:
The Property Ombudsman
Milford House
43-55 Milford Street
Salisbury
Wiltshire
SP1 2BP

Telephone: 01722 333 306

You can submit a complaint to The Property Ombudsman if you remain dissatisfied having received our Stage 2 letter OR 8 weeks have elapsed between making a formal written complaint and the matter has not been satisfactorily concluded.
Further information and guidance on the TPO can be accessed via their website, www.tpos.co.uk

We fully respect the independence of the TPO and will always honour their rulings.