At AFH, we are committed to providing excellent customer service at all times and really value your feedback. Therefore, it is important for us to know if the level of service you receive falls short of your expectations, or if a product you have purchased through us fails to meet your requirements. We use any information that you provide us with to better understand your complaint and manage it effectively, in order to arrive at a suitable outcome.
How to Complain
If you wish to make a complaint, you can contact us in the following ways:
In writing:
Complaints Department
AFH House
Buntsford Drive
Stoke Heath
Bromsgrove
Worcestershire
B60 4JE
Email: complaints@afhgroup.com
Telephone: 01527 577775
No charge will be made for handling a complaint from a client.
Data Protection Complaints
In addition to our standard complaints process, AFH recognises complaints relating specifically to the handling of personal data and complies with applicable data protection legislation.
We provide a clear and accessible route for individuals to raise concerns regarding their personal data. This includes, but is not limited to, complaints relating to subject access requests (SARs), data accuracy, marketing preferences, or potential data incidents.
If you have any requests for information regarding how we handle your personal data, or wish to contact our Data Protection Officer, you can do so by:
Email: privacy@afhgroup.com
Or in writing:
Complaints Department
AFH House
Buntsford Drive
Stoke Heath
Bromsgrove
Worcestershire
B60 4JE
Telephone: 01527 577775
Where a complaint relates to data protection, we will:
Acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 30 days
Investigate the complaint promptly and without undue delay
Keep you informed of the progress of the investigation
Communicate the outcome of the complaint clearly
We maintain appropriate records of data protection complaints, including key dates, actions taken and outcomes, to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
AFH will ensure that data protection complaints are clearly identifiable and appropriately recorded, and that staff are trained to recognise and escalate such complaints where necessary.
If you are not happy with the way we are handling your information, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO has enforcement powers and can investigate compliance with data protection regulation (www.ico.org.uk).
We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to deal with your concerns first, so if you are happy to do so, please contact us in the first instance and we will try to resolve your complaint.
Website: www.ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
What we do when a complaint is received
Our actions will be the same whether your complaint is made in writing or verbally. We aim to assess any complaint fairly, consistently and promptly. Where possible, we’ll try to resolve your concerns within 3 working days of receiving your complaint.
If we can resolve your complaint within 3 working days, we will:
contact you by the end of the third day of receiving your complaint, confirming how we have dealt with it.
If we cannot resolve your complaint within 3 working days, we will:
Promptly send you a written acknowledgement of your complaint to confirm it has been received and that we are dealing with it.
investigate your complaint further
we may need to get a signed letter of authority from you so we can collect certain information from other parties on your behalf
we aim to complete our investigation within 8 weeks of receiving your complaint.
Write to you again when we have completed our investigation, confirming:
details of our investigation
whether your complaint has been upheld or not
what corrective action or redress (or both) we believe is suitable
If we haven’t been able to complete our investigation within 8 weeks of receiving it, we will write to you again, explaining:
The reason(s) why we have not been able to complete our investigation
When we hope to complete our investigation.
What happens next
We will investigate your complaint competently, diligently and impartially. We will take into account any documents and/or information which you may provide in relation to your complaint. If necessary, we may request further relevant evidence and information/documentation from you to assist us with your investigation.
We will ensure that you are kept informed of our progress with regard to the investigation into your complaint and once we have finalised our investigation, we will issue our Final Response letter. All communications with you will be clear, fair and not misleading.
If we have been unable to conclude our investigation or issue our final response within eight weeks, we will write to you and provide an explanation as to why we are not in a position to issue a final response and indicate when we expect to be able to provide one.
The Financial Ombudsman Service
If you are dissatisfied with our final response, or if we are unable to resolve your complaint within eight weeks, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service:
Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR
Telephone: 0800 023 4567
Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Web: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
The Financial Ombudsman Service is an independent dispute resolution service. There is no charge for you to use their services.
What we do if your complaint is not about our firm
If we have reasonable grounds to be satisfied that another firm maybe solely or jointly responsible for any complaint issues raised, we will promptly forward the complaint (or the relevant part of it), in writing to that firm. We will write to you to confirm our actions and provide you with the contact details of the firm concerned.
Further information
In the event that you have any queries regarding our complaint handling procedures, please get in touch with us, using the contact details provided above. A copy of our Complaints Policy and Procedures is available on request.