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.

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. If you are not happy with the response, please follow our formal complaint process below.

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.

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

You can make a formal complaint by writing an email or letter to the Chief Executive, Elizabeth Gardiner (elizabeth@protect-advice.org.uk), at our offices. 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 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.

You can make a formal complaint by writing an email or letter to the Chief Executive, Elizabeth Gardiner (elizabeth@protect-advice.org.uk), at our offices. 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 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.

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.

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:

• Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and
• No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
• No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

For information on what the Charity Commission investigates see here and details about complaints to the SRA are here. For information about the Legal Ombudsman, see details here.