Complaints procedure

If something has gone wrong

We would rather hear about it than not. Every complaint is read by a director, and we treat it as a chance to put things right and to fix the process behind it.

How to complain

Email ben@reliness.co.uk or write to Reliness Ltd, 4th Floor, Silverstream House, 45 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 6EB.

Tell us what happened, why you're unhappy and what you'd like us to do about it. If it's about energy, include your business name and the meter or account reference if you have it.

Someone else can complain for you, such as a colleague, an adviser or a family member, as long as you tell us you're happy for them to do so. If you need any help to make a complaint, or need us to communicate in a particular way, just say.

What we do

1. We acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days and tell you who is dealing with it.

2. We look at everything we hold about it. For energy customers that includes the emails, any call recordings, the Letter of Authority, the quotes we showed you and the commission statement for your contract.

3. We aim to send you a full written answer within 10 working days. If we need information from an energy supplier or from Tritility Limited, the aggregator we work through, it can take longer. We tell you why and when to expect the answer, and we update you at least every 10 working days until it's settled.

4. Our answer sets out what we found, what we will do to put it right, such as an apology, a correction, a refund or other redress where it's fair, and what you can do next if you're still unhappy.

Energy customers: the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman

If you're a microbusiness or a small business and we haven't resolved your complaint within 8 weeks of when you first made it, or we've written to you to say we can't resolve it (a deadlock letter), you can take it to the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman. It's free for you. Our deadlock letter will always give you its details.

A microbusiness has fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet of no more than £2 million, or uses no more than 100,000 kWh of electricity or 293,000 kWh of gas a year.

A small business has fewer than 50 employees and an annual turnover of no more than £6.5 million or a balance sheet of no more than £5 million, or uses no more than 200,000 kWh of electricity or 500,000 kWh of gas a year.

Dispute Resolution Ombudsman, Premier House, First Floor, 1-5 Argyle Way, Stevenage, SG1 2AD. Phone 0333 241 3209, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Email info@disputeresolutionombudsman.org. Website disputeresolutionombudsman.org.

Our membership of the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman scheme for energy brokers is being approved. This page will show our membership number as soon as it is confirmed.

The ombudsman looks at both sides. If you accept its decision, it binds us. You don't have to accept it, and you keep every other legal route, including the courts.

Complaints about an energy supplier

Problems with billing, meters, supply or a supplier's own service go to the supplier first, under its complaints procedure, and then to the Energy Ombudsman if they're not resolved. We'll help you find the right contact and, where your Letter of Authority allows, chase the supplier for you.

Our other services

If we can't settle a complaint about any of our other services, we'll tell you so in writing, tell you about any alternative dispute resolution provider that's available and say whether we'll use it. You can also go to the courts.

Complaints about how we use your personal data are covered in our privacy notice. You can also complain to the Information Commission.

What we keep and how we learn

We keep a record of every complaint, what we did and the outcome for six years, along with the emails, recordings and documents behind it, so any complaint can be looked at against what was actually said and signed.

Where a complaint is about an energy contract arranged through Tritility Limited, we tell Tritility within 48 hours so the supplier can be involved early.

A director reviews all complaints every month to find and fix the cause, not just the individual case.