Protect – Speak up stop harm

Free, confidential whistleblowing advice
Call us on 020 3117 2520 or email us

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Protect – Speak up stop harm
Donate

Free, confidential whistleblowing advice
Call us on 020 3117 2520 or email us

Complaints Policy

COMPLAINTS POLICY

Every year we advise thousands of whistleblowers and support hundreds of businesses with their whistleblowing arrangements. We aim to provide you with an excellent service. However, from time to time, you may feel we got things wrong or we could do things better and when this happens, we want to know.

Complaints   
Every year we advise thousands of whistleblowers and support hundreds of businesses with their whistleblowing arrangements. We aim to provide you with an excellent service. However, from time to time, you may feel we got things wrong or we could do things better and when this happens, we want to know.

Advice line 
If you are a whistleblower seeking advice and are not happy with the service, please tell your adviser in the first instance, and he or she will refer you to a senior member of the advice team, or to our Head of Advice Rebecca Durkin (Rebecca@protect-advice.org.uk). If you are not happy with the response, please follow our formal complaint process below.

Business client 
If you are an employer and not happy with our service, please contact our Business Development Director, Jon Cunningham (jon@protect-advice.org.uk). If you are not happy with the response, you may follow the formal complaint process below.  If the issue is unresolved after making a formal complaint, our contract with you to provide training and consultancy will confirm the process for resolving any dispute.  Our standard contract terms includes referral to an independent mediator/conciliator as the next step.

Donors and funders 
Protect is a signatory to the Fundraising Promise and if you are concerned that we have not complied with the Code of Fundraising Practice as outlined on the Fundraising Regulator’s website, please contact our fundraiser, Chris Pethers (funding@protect-advice.org.uk) in the first instance.  If you are not happy with the response, please follow our formal complaint process below.

Other parties 
If you have any other concern about any aspect of our services, please follow our formal complaint process.

Formal complaint process 
You can make a formal complaint by writing an email or letter to the Joint Chief Executives, Elizabeth Gardiner and Sybille Raphael (CEO@protect-advice.org.uk) at our offices: Protect, The Green House, 244-254 Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9DA . If the complaint is about the Chief Executive, please address it to the Chair, Lucy McLynn, at our offices.

If you make a formal complaint, we normally aim to respond to you within 10 working days. If you are unhappy with the response from the Chief Executive, you can write to the Chair of the Board, Lucy McLynn.

Outside bodies 
As a charity, we are regulated by the Charity Commission. Our lawyers are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).  If your concerns remain unresolved you may take your complaint to one of these bodies.  For information on what the Charity Commission investigates see here and details about complaints to the SRA are here.

If your complaint is about the legal service you have received from our lawyers, you can also have your complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. Before accepting a complaint for investigation the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

  • No more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
  • No more than one year from the date when you should have realised that there was cause for complaint;
  • and within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman please contact them: visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk or call 0300 555 0333 between 10am to 4pm or email  enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

If you are not satisfied with our response on a fundraising complaint, you can raise your concerns with the Fundraising Regulator through its online complaint form.