Complaints procedure
Guidance on how to make a complaint to the Coal Authority.
If you are unhappy with our service
We are committed to dealing with you in line with our customer standards. In return we ask that customers respect our staff.
We know it can be frustrating, but we will not expect our colleagues to tolerate threatening, abusive, or violent behaviour. If you are challenging to our staff we may not be able to help you with your request.
Read the Coal Authority’s unacceptable behaviour policy
If you’re unhappy with any part of of our service, we want you to let us know so that we can do our best to put things right.
A complaint is defined as an expression of dissatisfaction about the service we have provided.
This may include:
- experiencing unreasonable delays
- feeling like we have not kept you informed
- feeling as if you have been treated poorly
- us making a mistake
The quickest way to resolve your concerns is to contact the team you’ve been dealing with, explaining why you’re feeling unhappy.
If you have already tried to resolve the issue with them and you’re not happy with the outcome, please follow one of the following complaints procedures.
If you have a concern with a coal mining subsidence claim, please follow the procedure: coal mining subsidence claims
If you have a concern relating to how we have provided or used information please follow the procedure: concerns relating to information
If you have a concern about anything else, please follow the procedure: all other concerns or complaints
Coal mining subsidence claims
If you don’t agree with a decision regarding your coal mining subsidence claim, you have a legal right to go directly to arbitration or land tribunal.
If you would like to, you can ask for a member of our executive team to review your concerns before you do that.
To do this, either:
email customerservice@coal.gov.uk or write to:
Executive team
The Coal Authority
200 Lichfield Lane
Mansfield
Nottinghamshire
NG18 4RG
They will respond to you within 10 working days.
If an agreement still cannot be reached, you still have the right to take your complaint to arbitration under one of the following:
Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR)
Apply under the Householder Arbitration Scheme if you’re the owner and claiming for a domestic property.
Contact the CEDR to find out how to apply on +44 (0)20 7536 6000 or email info@cedr.com.
Visit the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution website
Otherwise apply under the General Arbitration Scheme.
Land Tribunal
Access to information complaint
If your complaint relates to a request for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, or to our publication scheme you can contact our records manager, who will arrange for your complaint to be investigated.
Either email recordsmanagement@coal.gov.uk, phone 0345 762 6848 or write to:
Records Manager
The Coal Authority
200 Lichfield Lane
Mansfield
Nottinghamshire
NG18 4RG
We will respond to all complaints about access to information within 20 working days.
In exceptional circumstances where this may not be possible, we will contact you within 20 working days to let you know who is looking after your complaint, what action we are taking and when a reply can be expected.
If you’re still not satisfied you can approach the information commissioner.
Please note that generally the information commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have first used the Coal Authority’s own complaints procedure.
Re-use of information complaint
If your complaint relates to a request to re-use information under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005, you can write to the head of digital, who will arrange for your complaint to be investigated.
Either email customerservice@coal.gov.uk, phone 0345 762 6848 or write to:
Head of Digital
The Coal Authority
200 Lichfield Lane
Mansfield
Nottinghamshire
NG18 4RG
They will respond to you within 10 working days.
If you’re still not satisfied, you can approach the information commissioner’s office.
Please note that generally the information commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have first used the Coal Authority’s own complaints procedure.
Making a formal complaint - Stage 1
If you feel your complaint has not been resolved, you can make a formal complaint to our customer services team.
Either email customerservice@coal.gov.uk or write to:
Customer Services team
The Coal Authority
200 Lichfield Lane
Mansfield
Nottinghamshire
NG18 4RG
What information do I need to provide?
We need the full details of the complaint, including any people you’re complaining about. This will help us respond to your concerns.
We need to know:
- the team and contact name, if you have one
- whether this is a new complaint or a follow-up to a previous reply
- what happened
- what you would like us to do to sort things out
- your full postal address, phone number and email address, if you have one
We will:
- acknowledge your complaint within one working day
- review your complaint and provide a full response within 10 working days
In exceptional circumstances where this may not be possible, we will contact you within 10 working days to let you know who is looking after your complaint, what action we are taking and when a reply can be expected.
The complaint will be considered by a member of staff as least one grade higher than the staff member who has been dealing with your issue.
Making a formal complaint - Stage 2
If you’ve been through Stage 1 and you feel that your complaint has not been resolved, or you are not satisfied with our response, please write to our executive team.
Either email customerservice@coal.gov.uk or write to:
Executive team
The Coal Authority
200 Lichfield Lane
Mansfield
Nottinghamshire
NG18 4RG
They will respond to you within 10 working days.
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
If after you have followed Stage 1 and Stage 2 and you feel we have not done everything possible to resolve your complaint, you can ask your Member of Parliament to contact us on your behalf, or ask them to refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
After we have given our final response
If we consider that a final response has been given on a specific issue, we will explain that and tell you that we will not respond to you about it further.
This will be considered when:
- there is nothing useful that can be added to what has already been said
- your behaviour is unreasonable
Once this decision has been made, we will not normally communicate with you on that issue unless:
- closure needs to be reiterated
- a new issue or evidence is raised
- a new complaint about the way the matter has been handled is raised
Recording complaints
We will log all complaints we receive so that we can monitor the types of problems, the best way to sort them out and how long we are taking to deal with them. This also helps us to take a closer look at how we can improve our own service delivery.