The Complaints Process

The complaints process can be used by tenants who live in an accredited property and believe the landlord is breaching the Unipol Code of Standards. 

Firstly, we will make sure that the complainant has raised the issues in writing with the landlord and has given them chance to respond. 

Next, with permission from the tenant, the Code and Complaints Investigator will write to notify the Landlord that there has been a Formal Complaint and they have 7 days to respond.  

If we’re concerned about the standards of the property itself, we’ll carry out an inspection.  We will work with both parties to try resolve the complaint and any breaches of the Code.

If this is not possible, then the complaint may be referred to a Code Tribunal. 

2022/2023 Complaints Data

From 1st September 2022 to 31st January 2022 the National Code received 185 complaints (compared with 70 at the same time in 2021/22) and the top 5 causes of complaint were:

Repairs / Condition of building	52
Delays ( admin / refunds / deposit)	26
Gas / Electrical / Fire  / HHSRS / Compliance / Licensing	15
Lift out of order	14
Seeks release / Refund	14

146 complaints have been resolved (101 by the supplier and 45 by the Investigator), and 39 cases remain open.

Complaints by Month 2022-2023
Month	Number of Complaints
September	36
October	50
November	34
December	22
January	43
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
Total	185

2021/2022 Complaints Data

From 1st September 2021 to 31st August 2022 the National Code Complaints and Enquiries received 161 complaints (compared with 320 at the same time in 2021) and the top 5 causes of complaint were:

Seeks release/refund	40
Repairs	22
Contract/rent	18
Condition upon arrival	14
Unprofessional behaviour	6

Complaints by Month 2021-2022	Number of Complaints
September	15
October	17
November	15
December	12
January	11
February	18
March	14
April	11
May	10
June	6
July	18
August	14
Total	161

Complaints about Coronavirus

On top of the normal code complaints, in 2020 the Code received approximately 120 additional contacts relating to coronavirus across all the Codes.  The vast majority of these were from National Code tenants and concerned rent refunds. 

The Codes don’t include any specific requirements pertaining to the contractual relationships between members and tenants, as these are governed by contract law. Nor do the Codes cover the handling of the pandemic.  However, the guidance was issued to enable Unipol to investigate complaints relating to Coronavirus if a Provider seemed to be acting unfairly or if an individual had exceptional circumstances that hadn’t been taken into account when providers were managing schemes for refunding rents or releasing tenants.