CHG605 - Standards of service for dealing with complaints: HMRC Charter

How we deal with complainants is no different to how we deal with our customers in any other situation. In other words, we aim to live up to all of the commitments set out the HMRC Charter, under the section “What you can expect from us”. You should therefore be familiar with the HMRC Charter and the principles it commits us to.

By the same token, of course, we expect complainants to live up to their obligations under the HMRC Charter, which is set out in “Mutual Respect”.

When our customers do complain to us, they can expect a standard of service that meets our Charter commitments, and we refer to these standards as our Complaints Handling Principles:

Charter Standards	Getting things right	Making thing easy	Treating customers fairly	Being aware of the customer’s personal situation
Complaints Handling Principles	We undertake an objective review to establish whether there has been any error or delay. We recognise when we have not correctly applied HMRC processes or procedures, or where customers experience unreasonable delay. We take action to put things right and restore trust.	We value complaints and are receptive and responsive when customers do complain. We strive for an accessible and straightforward complaints journey.	We treat all our complaint customers fairly and impartially considering individual circumstances.	We recognise the impact of our actions on the individual customer. We apologise for any adverse impact on the customer and consider remedy and redress where it is right to do so.