SUMMARY OF THE INTERNAL PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING
COMPLAINTS FOR PRINCIPALS

We regard a complaint as being:

We will provide a copy of this document on request and when acknowledging a complaint. There will be no charge for this.

On receipt of a complaint, we will pass the details onto Mr Atul Patel (Principal of the Firm), who will be responsible for ensuring that any complaint will be dealt with promptly and fairly.

A complaint can be made via any reasonable means, including letter, telephone, email, and in person.

We operate a telephone line for the purposes of enabling a complaint to be filed and you will not be bound to pay more than the ‘basic rate’ when using this.

No charge will be made for handling a complaint from a client.

Making a Complaint

If you wish to make a complaint, we can be contacted as follows:

By Phone: 01959 532 502

By Email: atul@principals.biz

In Writing or in person:
Principals Keepers Cottage
Badgers Mount Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 7AG

Complaints resolved by close of the third business day after receipt

Where we consider your complaint to have been fully resolved by the close of the third business day following the day it is received, we will promptly issue our ‘Summary Resolution Communication’. All communications with you will be fair, clear and not misleading.

Our ‘Summary Resolution Communication will

• be in plain language and easily understood;
• refer to the fact that you have made a complaint and that we consider the complaint to have been resolved;
• If relevant, include any offer of remedial action or the appropriate level of redress (or both);
• provide you with details of your any rights to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service or take civil action if you subsequently decide that you are dissatisfied with the resolution of the complaint.

We will also provide you with the contact details of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), their website address and refer you to the availability of further information on the FOS website.

The FOS can be contacted as follows:

The Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London E14 9SR

Telephone number: 0800 023 4 567.

Further information is available on the Ombudsman’s website below: Web: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

If you are not satisfied with our decision, eligible complainants have the right to refer the matter onto the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) within 6 months from the date of our

‘Summary Resolution Communication’ or they may lose that right. Details of any rights will be provided.

We will also confirm whether or not we consent to the FOS considering a complaint if it becomes apparent that the complaint has been made or referred outside the time limits specified under FCA rules. Under these rules the ombudsman service cannot normally look at a complaint from an eligible complainant if it is referred more than 6 months after our summary resolution communication or final response is issued, or, 6 years from when the act complained of happened and 3 years from when a complainant should reasonably have been aware of a problem

 

Acknowledging your Complaint

We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working business days from the date complaint is received.

If your complaint cannot be resolved by the close of the fifth business day, following the day it is received, we will promptly send you a written confirmation stating it has been received by relevant department, and we are dealing with it.

If you make an oral complaint, our written acknowledgement will set out our understanding of your complaint within 5 working business days from the date complaint is received.

If we have reasonable grounds to be satisfied that another firm may be solely or jointly responsible for the allegation(s) made, we will promptly forward the complaint, or the relevant part of it, to that firm. We will write to you to confirm our actions and provide contact details of the firm concerned.

 

Investigating your Complaint

Your complaint will be handled effectively by somebody who is competent and in an independent way.

Your complaint will be investigated diligently and will be assessed fairly, consistently and promptly.

We may ask you to submit copies of documentation and may request further relevant evidence and information from you to assist us with our investigation.

We will take into account any documents and/or information you may provide in relation to your complaint.

Keeping you Informed.

If your complaint cannot be resolved by the close of the third business day, following the day it is received, we will ensure that you are regularly kept informed of our progress with regards to the investigation into your complaint.

Any progress updates will include:

• an explanation why we are not in a position to make a final response and indicate when we expect to be able to provide one;
• what further information / documents we require to resolve your complaint; and
• when you may expect to receive a further update / our Final Response letter.

We will work towards completing our investigation into your complaint within eight weeks of its receipt.

We will undertake a thorough investigation of your complaint which may take a little bit of time. However in the event that we have been unable to conclude our enquiries within the eight week period, we will write to you and provide an explanation why we are not in a position to make a final response and indicate when we expect to be able to provide one.

If we have been unable to conclude our enquiries within the eight week period we will provide you with details of any rights to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) (or take civil action) if you are dissatisfied with the progress of our review, their contact details, website address and refer you to the availability of further information on the FOS website.

We will also confirm whether or not we consent to the FOS considering a complaint if it becomes apparent that the complaint has been made or referred outside the time limits specified under FCA rules.

Resolving your Complaint

When we have finalised our investigation into your complaint, we will issue our Final Response letter. All communications with you will be fair, clear and not misleading.

If a complaint is resolved by the close of the third business day following the day it is received a final response letter will not be issued.

Our Final Response letter will:

• be in plain language and easily understood
• include details of the complaint
• provide details of our investigation and decision; and
• if relevant, include any offer of remedial action or the appropriate level of redress (or both);
• provide you with details of any rights to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (or take civil action) if you subsequently decide that you are dissatisfied with the resolution of the complaint.

We will also provide you with the contact details of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), their website address and refer you to the availability of further information on the FOS website.

If you are not satisfied with our decision (and are an eligible complainant) you will have the right to refer the matter onto the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) within 6 months from the date of our
Final Response letter or you may lose that right. Details of this right and an explanatory leaflet will be provided.

We will also confirm whether or not we consent to the FOS considering a complaint if it becomes apparent that the complaint has been made or referred outside the time limits specified under FCA rules.