Complaints procedure
Source: gov.uk (2025-07-10)

This guidance explains how we handle complaints from customers about our conduct or standards of service.

Purpose and scope

This document explains how we manage complaints from customers about our conduct or standards of service.

The role of the Commission is to make sure that charities are accountable, well run and meet their legal obligations. You can read more about the Commission on our About Us page (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission/about).

Making a complaint

The Commission defines a complaint as:

“Any spoken or written dissatisfaction about the standard of service received during engagement with the Commission or our wider regulatory work that has not been resolved by staff when an issue has been highlighted”

We want our customers to have a positive experience while they use our service. If you are unhappy with our conduct or standard of service, we would like you to tell us about it.

An issue can often be resolved informally at the first point of contact. We encourage you to contact the case manager you have been dealing with in the first instance to see if the issues can be resolved promptly.

When to use this process

If the service you receive is not up to our usual high standard, and we have not been able to resolve it informally, you can contact the Customer Relations Team to raise a service complaint. You can complain to the Customer Relations Team if you are dissatisfied:
- with the manner in which the Commission carried out its work in a specific case
- the way you have been treated
- how long it has taken us to do something
Where we can’t help

The Customer Relations Team cannot investigate complaints about:
- the Commission’s findings or decisions reached in the conduct of its regulatory functions
- the use of our regulatory powers.Read our guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dissatisfied-with-one-of-the-charity-commissions-decisions-how-can-we-help-you/dissatisfied-with-one-of-the-charity-commissions-decisions-how-can-we-help-you#:~:text=tell%20the%20Commission%20why%20you,best%20interest%20of%20the%20charity) for further information on what to do if you consider the decision is wrong
- charity law or policy
The team cannot consider complaints that:
- have previously been considered by the Commission
- have already been investigated or are currently being investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
- are, or have been, subject to legal proceedings
The Commission is not a complaints service. It is not our role to resolve complaints about a charity’s standard of service in an individual case. Read our guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-charities) for further information about our role.

How to make a complaint

It is open to anyone who has come into contact with us to make a complaint about our conduct or standard of service. Complaints should be made as soon as possible and should be made no later than three months after the date of the incident causing the complaint. Delays could affect our ability to consider your complaint, and we may decide not to investigate your concerns.

If someone is complaining on your behalf, we need your consent to raise and discuss the complaint.

If you have a complaint, please complete our online form

Complaint - Charity Commission for England and Wales (https://forms.charitycommission.gov.uk/Complaint/)

If you have difficulty using our online complaints form, please call us on xx-xxxx-xxxx where a member of the team can help you. You can write to:

Charity Commission PO Box 211 Bootle L20 7YX

If you write to us, it is important that you tell us:
- what you think went wrong
- how we should put it right
- the impact on you
What happens when you complain

We will always investigate your complaint fairly and will:

acknowledge your complaint and aim to reply in full, within 30 working days but if the problem is complex and we need more time we will let you know
- clearly explain why we have reached our conclusion
- let you know if we have made a mistake, explain what happened and put things right as quickly as we can
- tell you about improvements that should be made to our processes
How to take your complaint further

If you are not happy with the way the Customer Relations Team has managed your complaint, please email the Customer Relations Manager within one month at xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx). The Customer Relations Manager will then review the complaint response you received to ensure that:
- our response and the decision we made was fair
- we covered all the issues in your complaint
- we corrected any shortfalls in service
- we clearly explained the outcome to you
If you remain unhappy after this, you can ask your MP to take up your complaint with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) (https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/). The Ombudsman is independent of all government bodies and will review your complaint.

The PHSO cannot overturn regulatory decisions made by the Commission, which is a matter for the courts. Its role is to investigate complaints about maladministration, which may include how a decision was made, but not to replace the Commission’s decision itself.

Tell us what we did well

It helps us to know when we have done well, and we are exceeding your expectations in customer service.

If your feedback relates to an individual at the Commission, please try to supply the name so we can ensure that the feedback is shared with that person.

If you have a compliment, please contact the case manager you have been dealing with to provide the feedback, Alternatively, you can contact us by post:

Charity Commission PO Box 211 Bootle L20 7YX

Complaints not covered by this policy

The Customer Relations Team cannot deal with complaints about a Freedom of Information response. These are dealt with under our FoI process. Find out more (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission) about Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.