If there is one thing worse than having to complain, it is falling into the sea of confusion, complacency and inefficiency that some firms call their customer services department.
Whether the complainant is an individual member of the public or a national commercial partner, mortgage lenders have a legal responsibility to make sure their grievance is handled in an effective, transparent and prompt manner.
In challenging market conditions, no business wants to make life more difficult than it already is and so eradicating complaints should be the first priority.
Thereafter, dealing with those that arise should be done in accordance with the rules and in a fashion that not only resolves the issues at hand, but also serves to deliver benefits to the firm as a whole.
Imbued with emotion
The financial services market and mortgage sector in particular is imbued with consumer emotion because of the attachment that clients have to the property.
Lending responsibly and ‘Treating Customers Fairly’ (TCF) are two cornerstones of the regulatory regime in the UK, and so it is imperative that firms can prove they have acted accordingly and can effectively deal with complaints in cases where it is claimed they have not.
Some lenders may feel that since regulation came into force the complaints handling process they originally developed to meet the rules set out by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is still fit for purpose.
If it was well thought through and robust then this may well be the case, but there have been changes to the requirements and firms must not believe that complaints handling is something they no longer need to think about.
Regulation is constantly evolving and as products, procedures and market environments change, the complaints handling process that lenders have in place must be continually reassessed to ensure it remains both relevant and effective.
Significant changes
Over the last six months there have been significant changes to the type and number of products that many lenders are offering. There have also been many changes made in terms of the partners that lenders are doing business with.
In turn, this must have an effect on the complaints a lender will receive and they need to be sure any which come out of the woodwork can be handled as effectively now as they could be in the past.
There are some set parameters, which all firms need to use as the basic framework for their complaints handling procedure, as detailed by the FSA. Once a complaint has been received, it must be acknowledged and the complainant must be kept up-to-date with the progress.
Within eight weeks of a complaint, the firm must issue a final response. If it is unable to this it must issue a written response explaining why and indicating when a final response will be made.
Otherwise the written response must inform the complainant that if they remain unhappy they are now eligible to refer the issue to the Financial Ombudsman Service and explain how they should go about this.
Beyond the call of duty
Over and above the basic requirements of complaints handling, it is important that lenders seek to use the process as a positive way of correcting any wrongs that have occurred and protecting their own reputation and standing with clients.
It is important that individual members of staff dealing with complaints are able to take on a degree of responsibility that allows them to deal with issues effectively and appropriately. Simply passing the buck is time consuming, frustrating and ineffectual for everyone involved.
Even non-client facing staff should work towards the quick and effective resolution of complaints where they are required to provide information or certain assistance on a particular issue.
This is going to be a cultural issue for firms, but getting it right will pay significant dividends. In many instances complaints will be the result of simple misunderstandings or mistakes. Where these can be quickly and easily resolved, the complainant will leave with a good impression of the lender.
Where there is a genuine grievance to deal with, doing so in a fast and efficient way will be cheaper for the lender.
Bringing problems to a swift resolution is also likely to overcome any negative sentiment held by the complainant and may in turn engender future loyalty.
Trust is important
In difficult and uncertain times, people like to do business with firms they trust and which they believe will act fairly and efficiently. For lenders themselves, operating in this way will help prevent problems from coming up in the first place and mean that they can be dealt with quickly and positively when they do.
Leaving them to fester will create dissatisfaction and upheaval with clients and may end up with the Ombudsman or regulator on the doorstep. Such distractions are difficult to deal with at any time, let alone at a time when the environment has become significantly more severe than in recent years.
