Who can make a complaint?
Any person, or their representative, dissatisfied with the NWF’s service can make a complaint.
How to lodge a complaint
You can make your complaint via email or by post. We will always try to deal with your complaint quickly but if it's clear the matter will need a more detailed investigation, we'll tell you and keep you updated on our progress.
By email: complaints@nationalwealthfund.org.uk
By post: Complaints Team, National Wealth Fund, 2 Whitehall Quay, Leeds, LS1 4HR
When making a complaint, please tell us:
- Your full name, email address and any other contact details
- The NWF client or project that your complaint relates to (where applicable)
- The primary category that your complaint falls into:
- Service-related;
- Timely processing;
- Marketing related;
- Treatment by, or the attitude of, NWF staff;
- Confidentiality and privacy related issues; or
- Other (please describe).
- As much detail as you can provide about the subject of the complaint
- How you would like us to resolve the matter for you
What is not covered under our complaints handling process?
There are some matters that will not be dealt with through our complaints handling procedure, including expressions of dissatisfaction or criticism directed towards the NWF regarding:
- The NWF’s mission, impact, investment model or investment policies;
- Commercial or investment decisions – where the NWF has declined equity investment or financing based on our investment criteria or risk appetite;
- Investments or financing decisions that the NWF has made (i.e. querying the mission-alignment or questioning the business case or rationale for the investment);
- The NWF’s relationships with its staff;
- Contractual or commercial disputes.
We will not respond to anonymous complaints or attempts to reopen a previously concluded complaint; and where procedures and remedies are set out in legislation (e.g. Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act) these will supersede our complaints handling procedure.
Any queries that do fall outside our complaints handling process should be submitted via the contact page.
What happens when you complain?
Acknowledgment:
We expect to acknowledge your complaint in writing within 10 business days of receipt. If we can investigate and resolve the complaint quickly, our response at this point will also comprise the formal response and resolution of the complaint. If we aren’t able to resolve the complaint directly, we will provide information about the next steps, including timescales.
Investigations:
If we need to carry out an investigation into a complaint, we will ensure this is carried out in a fair and reasonable manner, by colleagues independent of the matter being investigated, before concluding whether the complaint should be upheld or rejected. Investigations may include discussions or correspondence with you, colleagues, professional advisors or other third parties. If you have raised serious issues or concerns, including any accusation of unethical, inappropriate or illegal activity by the NWF, we will also report the matter to the NWF’s Chief Risk Officer.
Resolving and responding:
Once we’ve determined the outcome of the complaint (whether to uphold or reject) we’ll communicate this to you in a Response Letter.
What if you're still not satisfied?
After we've fully investigated, if you're still dissatisfied with our decision or the way we dealt with your complaint, you can ask for the decision to be reviewed by an Appeal Panel.
Information about how to appeal will be included in the Response Letter; and any appeal must be made in writing within six months of receipt of the Response Letter.