Feedback from our customers is very important. It helps us to put right anything that we have done wrong, and helps us learn how we can improve. We welcome all feedback but we particularly want to hear about:
- team members or services that have worked well
- how you think we could improve
- where things didn't go as well as you expected
- any complaints you have (see below for more information on this).
You can give us feedback, whether that's a compliment or a complaint by phone, email, letter, webchat, social media channels or through our customer portal My Account.
However you contact us, please make sure you include your full name, address, date of birth and a contact number or email address, along with the details of your feedback. This will help us to support you much more quickly and effectively.
Reporting on complaints
We're pleased to have published our first ever complaints annual report, for 2023-24. The report covers the number of complaints Futures received last financial year, including a breakdown of the main themes of complaints and what changes we've made as a result of these.
Click here to read our 'Complaints annual report: 2023-24'
Compliments received
Click here to read some of the kind words we've recently received about our service. If you'd like to pass on your thanks, find out the different ways you can contact us here, or why not share your thoughts with other customers on our online community My Voice?
How we deal with complaints
At Futures we have a formal, two stage complaints process to investigate and resolve the complaints we receive. We're regulated by the Housing Ombudsman Service and follow their 'Complaints Handling Code' when managing complaints.
Every complaint made to us is initially reviewed. If it meets our complaint criteria - you can find this in our policy here - the complaint is then handled by a specialist complaints officer who will investigate the complaint and work with you to resolve it this first stage.
If you're not satisfied with our stage one response or can provide additional evidence that your complaint has not been resolved, it can then be escalated to stage two of our internal complaints process. This means your complaint will be investigated and handled by an independent complaints handler.
If you have been through this two-stage process and feel that we've not handled the situation properly, you can then refer the complaint to the Housing Ombudsman.
- The Housing Ombudsman has lots of helpful advice and resources, including how to complain, when it’s appropriate to escalate to them and fact sheets on a variety of housing issues. Head to the residents section on the Ombudsman website here.
- You can view our self-assessment for the Housing Ombudsman's 'Complaint Handling Code' here.
- You can view the response from our Board about our self-assessment here.
What people are saying about our complaints process
We contact everyone following the resolution of their complaint to complete a survey on their experience. We listen to all feedback as it helps us make improvements, and we're excited to share some positive comments from people who had a good experience with our process. Take a look at some of the comments we’ve received so far!
"Thank you for your quick response in this matter after talking to lots of different people. You dealt with it very efficiently and professionally, and was very fair and listened to me."
"I’d just like to say I am very happy with the way you dealt with my complaint. I feel that you listened to my concerns and did not fob me off. You acted promptly and got things sorted for me. Thank you."
“Dealt with our formal complaint so swiftly and professionally and sorted out our problem to a satisfactory outcome.”
“I’m glad that the garden can be used properly now. All the things have been done now in my flat.
"Communication is paramount. Thank you for all your help”
“Thank you for your response and for acknowledging the difficulties that we had with handing the property back to Futures. I appreciate the time you have taken and for the kind gesture of the flowers for mum. I am happy with your findings and not looking to take it any further”.
Learning from complaints and feedback
Here are some of the changes we have made in response to complaints and feedback over the last year.
Subsidence insurance claims
Customers told us they felt as though they were out of the loop in what can sometimes be a lengthy process. They told us this led to them feeling frustrated and as though nothing was getting done. After reviewing this process, we agreed that more could be done to ensure our customers are regularly updated with the steps of their insurance claim.
We've started a new process which takes into account what's most important to the customers going through this. We now have dedicated people at Futures to monitor and track the insurance claim, as well as Customer Liaison Officers who will work with the customer and provide more regular updates. These two teams meet regularly and there is frequent communication with the insurance company to ensure progress is tracked, but most importantly, to make sure customers are kept in the loop.
Plastering works
There’s been some confusion from customers expecting our operatives to start the plastering works on the first visit, when this initial visit is just to inspect what work needs to be done. We’ve updated guidance for our customer service team, so going forwards this will be clearly explained to customers. The operatives will also take clear before and after photos of the works, so we have these on record.
Window replacements
We’ve produced a new card that operatives will hand to customers when we come to measure windows that need to be replaced. This is because customers weren’t always aware they needed to have already cleared the area around the window before the operatives come to replace them. Click here to view a copy of the card.
Our colleagues should already be using shoe covers, but this has been reinforced as part of the specification for each job, and we’re also working on a reminder popping up on the mobiles/tablets our operatives use.
Kitchen and bathroom planned works
We found it could be made clearer to customers what we need them to do and which contractors were doing what, when their kitchen or bathrooms were being replaced. For example, who removes the items and who is responsible for each bit. We’ve now updated guidance for our customer service team so we can clearly explain to customers what they need to do and what will happen.
Repairs process review
We are reviewing our repair process to ensure a seamless experience for our customers when reporting and completing repairs. This includes improving communication with customers to keep them informed about the progress of their repairs. We will also evaluate the work carried out by our contractors as part of this review.
Customer services transformation
We have started a major piece of work to fully review and transform our customer service processes. We want to enhance the experience for our customers when they reach out to us. This includes improving how we handle each interaction and ensuring clear communication about the progress of customer enquiries that require multiple steps. As part of this transformation, we are also reviewing our complaints process, identifying common themes, and taking actions to address them effectively. These insights will be integrated into our ongoing work around continuous improvement.
Customer experience evaluation
We are also reviewing all the feedback we receive from our customers, and we want to ensure that we capture all your valuable input. Our Customer Insight Committee will carefully examine the feedback we currently gather, including both formal and informal responses. Their goal is to identify any areas where we may be missing important feedback and provide informed suggestions on how we can improve our data collection process to bridge those gaps. Your feedback plays a crucial role in helping us enhance our services, so we truly appreciate your participation.
