Guidance

Valuation Office Agency complaints procedure - English

Updated 19 June 2023

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) provides a high-quality, fair and professional service to our customers. We value and welcome feedback and we want you to let us know if you are not happy with the service we have provided.

We’ll listen to your complaint, treat it seriously, and do all we can to resolve the matter and put it right. We’ll also learn from feedback so that we can continue to improve our services.

This guidance outlines our complaints procedure and how we will treat your complaint.

Who is covered by this procedure

This procedure covers individual customers who wish to submit a complaint, as well as third party agents or representatives who have been authorised to submit a complaint on another person’s behalf.

This procedure does not apply:

• to public bodies including local authorities

• to organisations where there is a separate service partnership agreement or contract in place

• where we provided a valuation or valuation advice under contract to another organisation or public body. In these circumstances, the third-party customer may need to contact that client organisation or body direct in the first instance

What types of complaints we can deal with

We can consider your complaint if:

• we provided a poor service

• you experienced unreasonable delays

• we have not acted in accordance with our Charter

• we did not apply policy and guidance fairly and consistently

• we made mistakes or provided substandard or misleading advice

What types of complaints we can’t deal with

You cannot challenge a valuation decision through our complaints procedure. There are statutory processes in place to deal with disputes about valuation decisions:

• if you have challenged your council tax band and you disagree with the outcome, you may be able to appeal the decision

• if you have challenged the valuation of your property for business rates purposes and you disagree with the outcome, you may be able to appeal the decision

We are unable to deal with complaints about upcoming or ongoing legal proceedings, such as valuation tribunals. If you are unhappy with the outcome of these proceedings, we are also unable to deal with complaints relating to this.

Our standards for handling complaints

We will:

• treat your complaint seriously

• deal with your complaint in a fair, professional and courteous way

• work hard to find a resolution and explain our decisions clearly

• ensure we fully understand your concerns about the service you received

• respect you as an individual and will not discriminate against you on any grounds

• look after your information

• use customer-friendly words and explanations and avoid jargon in our replies

• adhere to the VOA Charter when handling your complaint

• ensure that the service you receive will not be compromised because you have made a complaint

How to make a complaint and what information to include  

Sending an email to complaints@voa.gov.uk is the easiest way to reach the Complaints Team directly.

You can also complain by post or phone:

Address: Valuation Office Agency, Wycliffe House, Green Lane, Durham DH1 3UW Telephone:03000 501501 (England) or 03000 505505 (Wales / Cymru)

Please provide the following information when you contact us:

• your name, home address and telephone number, and the address of the property in question (if different from your home address)

• the details of your complaint – tell us what happened and how it affected you

• any case reference numbers, details of who you dealt with and copies of any correspondence relevant to the complaint

• what you would like to happen as a result of a complaint

• please tell us if you require any adjustments to help you use our complaints procedure

This information can also be found on our referral form which can be filled in and sent to us.

What to do if an agent or representative is submitting a complaint on your behalf

An agent or representative can submit a complaint on your behalf. While you may be charged fees by an agent to make a complaint, you can submit a complaint directly with us for free.

If you are using an agent or representative to make your complaint, you will need to complete an Authority to Act form. While your agent or representative may have authority to act on your behalf through the Check, Challenge Appeal system, this authority does not cover complaints and a separate Authority to Act form is still needed.

You will need to send the completed form to us directly to verify that your agent or representative is permitted to submit a complaint on your behalf. This also confirms that you are happy for us to share information about you with your agent or representative in order to deal with the complaint.

We’ll share any correspondence that we send to your agent or representative about your complaint with you.

If you would like the assistance of an agent or trusted helper, you may find the following link useful: www.gov.uk/guidance/appoint-an-agent

Our complaints procedure

There are two tiers to our complaints procedure:

Tier 1:

A Complaints Manager will look into your complaint and will send you a response.

Tier 2:

If you remain dissatisfied after your Tier 1 response, let us know. We will then review your complaint at Tier 2 of the procedure.

A different Complaints Manager will review your complaint and they will send you a response.

We aim to resolve all complaints at Tier 1 and Tier 2 within 20 working days of receipt. However, on rare occasions, the complexity of the complaint may mean that we need to extend this timeframe to enable us to fully address the matter. If this is the case, we will contact you to explain why there is a delay and when you can expect to receive a full response. 

Putting things right

Where we have made a mistake or have provided you with a poor level of service, we will put things right by:

• providing you with a sincere apology
• explaining what went wrong and why
• correcting the mistake (as far as the law allows)
• telling you what steps will be taken to prevent it from happening again
• learning from your complaint and identifying areas where we can improve our service

Whilst we appreciate that our customers’ time is valuable, it is not our policy to compensate for the usual costs of dealing with us which could include postal or stationery costs, travel expenses, and/or any representative’s fees. We also cannot compensate for the time customers spend pursuing matters with us.

We will consider any claims for reasonable costs, losses or expenses that have occurred as a direct result of service errors, such as a mistake or unreasonable delay. Before we consider any claims for costs, we expect you to have taken reasonable steps to minimise any costs or losses. This includes having formally challenged a valuation decision within the relevant legal time limits. If you do not, and you incur avoidable or excessive costs, we will only consider what might be reasonable.

If you are claiming for losses as part of your complaint, these must be evidenced with copies of receipts and/or invoices, showing a full and exact breakdown of relevant costs.

In some exceptional circumstances, we may make other compensatory payments at our discretion.

If you remain unhappy with our response

If you’re not happy with our response at Tier 2, you can ask the Adjudicator’s Office to consider your concerns. The Adjudicator’s Office is an independent organisation who investigates complaints about the VOA and who makes fair and unbiased recommendations.  They can normally accept your complaint up to six months after you’ve received a Tier 2 response from us.

Valuation decision disputes are not within their remit. Find out more about the role of the Adjudicator’s Office and how to make a complaint with them.

If you are unhappy with the decision from the Adjudicator’s Office, you can contact your MP to ask them to refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. If you live outside the UK, and therefore do not have an MP, you can ask the Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) to refer your complaint to them. The Ombudsman expects a complaint to have been considered by the VOA and the Adjudicator’s Office before they will consider your case.

Persistent complaints and unacceptable behaviour

We aim to provide a high-quality service and will treat customers fairly and with respect. We also expect customers to treat our staff with respect, and we do not tolerate unacceptable behaviour where individuals abuse our staff or processes.

While persistent or unreasonable complaints are rare, they can place a strain on time and resources. They can impact our ability to provide a service to other customers and they can be stressful for staff who deal with them. In these instances, we may take action to limit, or in the most extreme cases terminate, contact with us.