Contact us - complaints
If you are dissatisfied with any service provided by us or one of our contractors, let us know so we can try and resolve it. This form is only for complaints. Use our Get in touch form for other queries to make sure it reaches the right department.
Phone: 0344 800 3800
Email: contact@bernicia.com
Ashington (Head office)
Bernicia HQ, Oakwood Way,
Ashwood Business Park, Ashington,
Northumberland, NE63 0XF
Durham Office
Three Rivers House,
Abbeywoods Business Park,
Pity Me, Durham, DH1 5TG
Berwick Office
Unit 1, Windmill Way North,
Ramparts Business Park,
Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1TA
Opening hours
Monday- Thursday 8.30am-5.00pm (9am on Tuesday) Friday 8.30am-4.30pmVisit Head Office by car
Travel along the A189 heading towards Ashington. Exit at the junction with the B1334 and follow the signs for Ashwood Business Park. Take the first exit at the next roundabout onto Oakwood Way. Our Head Office is the first building on your left. Visitor parking is available at the entrance to the office. If there are no available spaces, please use the staff car park at the rear of the building.
We will always attempt to solve a complaint at the first point of contact, using our normal practices. There are times when our attempts to resolve complaints at this point are not possible and it is necessary to investigate these using our formal complaint process detailed below:
Resolution
When we receive your complaint, we will call you within 2 working days and try and sort the problem out immediately if possible. If we can’t contact you by phone we will send you an acknowledgement of your complaint within 5 working days. If your complaint needs further investigation, we will aim to do this within 10 working days.
Review
If you are not satisfied with the way we have resolved or dealt with your complaint you can ask for a review, giving the reason why you remain dissatisfied and the outcome you are looking for. Your review will be carried out by a Head of Service, usually within 20 working days.
Housing Ombudsman Service
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint at the end of our complaints process you can contact the Housing Ombudsman.
The Housing Ombudsman will usually only look at your complaint once it has been through all steps of our own complaint process.
For more information please visit the Ombudsman’s website:
We welcome the publication of the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code which provides us with structure and guidance to ensure that making a complaint is easy and accessible and that we listen and respond to what you tell us.
Self Assessment
We welcome the publication of the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code which provides us with structure and guidance to ensure that making a complaint is easy and accessible and that we listen and respond to what you tell us.
As part of Housing Ombudsman’s requirements, we have to self-assess our complaints service against the Complaint Handling Code.
Read our Self Assessment
We have already made changes as a result of the self-assessment:
- As a result of the self-assessment we’ve: adopted the Housing Ombudsman definition of a complaint
- updated our complaints policy and procedure
- improved information on our website to include links to our policy and procedure
- consulted with tenants on the reasonableness of complaint exclusions.
Whilst we can demonstrate we meet the requirements of the Code, we want to continue to improve our complaints services.