Complaints
The Customer Service Team will deal with all of your complaints and
questions. We are happy to talk to you about the Inspectors’ decisions and
our standard of service. Customer Service Team Inspectors must follow the same
rules and laws as other IRS Inspectors, but they work separately from them. So
they will not have been involved in the decision you have
received.
You may wish to contact the Customer Service Team if:
You think
the decision is wrong
Or
You have a complaint about the service you
received
Or
You have an enquiry
How to contact the Customer Service
Team
Our promise to you
The Customer Service Team will listen to what you say,
and investigate any issues you raise.
- They will let you
know that they have received your complaint.
- When possible they
will send a full reply to you within 8 days. If they cannot do this, they will
tell you what stage your complaint is at.
- They will complete
their investigations and reply in full within 15 days of receiving your
complaint.
- Sometimes, if they
need to get more information, it may take up to 30 days to reply in
full.
The Customer Service
Team and the rest of the IRS are committed to giving equal service to all
members of the public. This means we will deal with your complaint fairly and
we will not treat you differently from anyone else.
You can also
contact the Customer Service Team if you have a suggestion about our service.
We welcome your suggestions, which help us improve standards.
If you
think your decision is wrong
The Inspector's decision is normally the end of the review process. A
decision is not necessarily wrong because you have not received a payment. But
a Customer Service Team Inspector can reopen your case in the following
circumstances:
- Where some
information was missing, or was not recorded correctly,
- Where you think the
rules have not been used correctly, or
- Where there is extra
evidence that the Inspector did not know about when he made his decision.
If you
have a complaint about the service you have received
For example, you might
think the process has taken too long, or that you have not been treated
properly
Although your decision may not be affected by a
complaint about our service, the Customer Service Team will investigate your
concerns fully and apologise when we have got it wrong.
If you have an enquiry
You can contact the Customer Service team, if you have
any enquires about your decision.
Any payment that is due to
you following an Inspector's decision will be paid by your Jobcentre Plus
office. Your papers are returned to the Jobcentre Plus office at the same time
as the decision letter is sent to you. But the Jobcentre Plus office needs time
to prepare payments, so they may not issue these on the same day that you
receive your decision from the Independent Review Service. If there is a delay
in you receiving your payment you may wish to contact your Jobcentre Plus
office to ask when they will send the payment. If there is a significant delay
in you receiving your payment you can also contact our Customer Service Team.
Further Action
If you are still not satisfied with your decision
after the Customer Service Team has looked at it, you may be able to apply to
the High Court to challenge it (known as a ‘judicial review’). If you
are considering this, we advise you to get advice from solicitors,
citizen’s advice bureaux or law centres.
How to contact the Customer Service
Team
You can contact
the Customer Service Team between 9:00 and 16:30 Monday to Friday in the way
that suits you best:
 By telephone
on 0800 096 1928 (between 9:00 and 16:30) or fax on
0121 606
2184; or
 Send an e-mail to: [email protected]
 You can write to the Customer Service Team at this address:
Customer Service
Team
Independent Review
Service
4th Floor, Centre City Podium
5 Hill Street Birmingham.
B5 4UB
Or, by completing the CST Enquiry Form below:
Alternative Services
Available
 Deaf or hard of hearing customers who have a textphone can call us on
0800 096 1929 (between 9:00 and 16:30)
 Visually impaired customers, who want a copy of our leaflets or
decisions in Braille, on audiotape or large print can call us on 0800 096
1927 (between 9:00 and 16:30). Go to our Visually Impaired page for more
information.
If English is not your first language, and you have
difficulty in understanding the information about your review, we can send you
copies of the most important documents in your own language. See our
Translation
Services page for more information.
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