PRIVACY & COMPLAINTS

Our Privacy Policy

We give a very high priority to the privacy of our residents and that includes their personal data. Personal data is any information about you, such as your date of birth, your address, a photograph, bank details and medical information.

We need to collect, keep and use personal data about our residents in order to effectively run our Houses and provide our services. 

We promise, however, to use your personal data only to the extent necessary to run our Houses, provide our services, comply with our obligations, safeguard our interests and make sure that we are meeting our responsibilities to you and others.

We have a Privacy Policy which is available to be looked at in a communal area in both Houses. You can also click on the link here to view the Policy.We have a Privacy Policy which is available to be looked at in a communal area in both Houses. You can also click on the link here to view the Policy.

Our Complaints Policy & Procedure

We are committed at Abbeyfield Basildon to a culture of openness where residents are encouraged to discuss any matters of concern they have about the services they receive or about any other matter relating to living at Abbeyfield.

Residents can raise issues for open discussion at our regular residents’ meetings, or they can approach the House Manager or a Trustee or any member of staff to speak about a concern on a one-to-one basis.

We hope that any matters of concern can be dealt with on an informal basis either through discussion at a residents’ meeting or on a one-to-one basis. If this is not possible, we have a Complaints Procedure so that a resident can raise a formal complaint.

This Procedure is set out in detail in our Complaints Policy. All new residents will be given a copy of the Policy, and it is also available to be looked at in a communal area in the House. You can also click on the link here to view the Policy.

A service request, which is a request from a resident to take action to put something right, such as a request for the carrying out of some kind of maintenance, is not treated as a complaint.

However, if a resident is unhappy with the outcome of a service request and makes this known to a member of staff or a Trustee, this will automatically be treated as a complaint under the Complaints Procedure.

In dealing with complaints, Abbeyfield will ensure that:

– Individuals who raise a complaint are listened to and treated with courtesy and empathy;
– Residents will never be disadvantaged as a result of raising a complaint;
– Complaints will be investigated promptly, thoroughly, honestly, and openly; and
– We comply with confidentiality and data protection policies.

An issue about anti-social behaviour will not be dealt with under the Complaints Procedure because we have a separate Anti-Social Behaviour Policy for that.

The Anti-Social Behaviour Policy is provided to all new residents and is also available to be looked at in a communal area in the House. You can also click on the link here to view the Policy.

The Complaints Policy explains the actions which may be taken where a complaint by a resident is upheld.

This can sometimes include an offer of financial compensation, which we would consider in line with the guidance issued by the Housing Ombudsman. We have a Compensation Policy which aligns with that guidance.

The Compensation Policy is provided to all new residents and is also available to be looked at in a communal area in the House. You can also click on the link here to view the Policy.

The contact details for making a complaint are included in the Complaints Policy.

If a resident is not satisfied with the outcome of a complaint, they may be able to pursue this with the Housing Ombudsman Service.

The contact details for the Housing Ombudsman are in the Complaints Policy.

You can click on the links here to view the following documents.

Our Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Reports, published in accordance with the requirements of the Housing Ombudsman Service.

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Our Self-Assessment Form against the Complaint Handling Code.

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The Trustees’ responses to the Reports.

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We will seek to always comply with the Complaint Handling Code issued by the Housing Ombudsman Service although we acknowledge the late return of the 2023-2024 Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report and the Response of the Board of Trustees to that Report.

The reasons for that delay are explained in the Report for that year.