Guidance

Help to Buy complaints procedure

How to make a complaint about Help to Buy: Equity Loan

• From: Homes England
• Published: 17 November 2022
• Last updated: 16 June 2023 — See all updates

Applies to England

Help to Buy: Equity Loan complaints

Do not use this process to complain about Homes England or Help to Buy: ISA. Instead, follow the Homes England complaints process, or go to your Help to Buy: ISA provider for more information.

Making a complaint to Help to Buy

Here are some examples of the types of complaints you can make to us:

• Delays in responding to reasonable timescales set by Help to Buy
• Not answering reasonable questions or providing incorrect information
• Our staff treating you unfairly, rudely or disrespectfully
• If we haven’t followed our own policies and procedures
• Overlooking or missing information when making decisions about your property or your Help to Buy product.

If your complaint does not fall under our definition, such as complaining about how Help to Buy works, we’ll write back to you, explaining that we’re unable to investigate and no further action will be taken.

How to make a complaint

Homes England as an entity and Help to Buy: Equity Loan as a product are exempt from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorisation and regulation. But we believe in clear, fair and transparent handling of complaints that align with the industry standards.

Raise your complaint within 3 months of being aware of the problem.

You can complain via email, telephone or in writing.

Post:
Help to Buy customer services, PO Box 5262, Lancing, BN99 9HE

Email:
[email protected]

Phone:
0300 123 4123

For us to investigate your complaint, you’ll need to provide the following information so that we can identify you:

• your name
• your date of birth

Please also include two of the items listed below:

• your customer reference number - this can be found on any letter we have sent you
• the first line of your address and postcode
• the name and date of birth of anyone else on the equity loan
• your phone number
• your monthly interest payment amount and date
• a password - if one has been arranged

If you raise a complaint that we can put right quickly, we’ll aim to resolve it as soon as possible. But as some complaints are more complex and it can take time to respond to you fully.

If your complaint is regarding an ongoing issue, please be aware that we may not be able to provide a final response until the matter is resolved.

We investigate all complaints to make sure we fully understand the situation. This may mean that we ask you questions about what has led to your complaint. We may also need to consult with our internal teams and external partners.

Step 1

We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days of receipt of your correspondence and pass the case to our complaints department. One of our experienced complaints handlers may then get in touch via a telephone call to establish all of the information to allow them to conduct an impartial investigation into your complaint.

Step 2

We will investigate your complaint. If we are unable to provide you with a final response within 4 weeks, we will send you an update advising you of the reason for the delay.

Step 3

We will endeavour to send a final response to you within 8 weeks of receipt of your complaint. If we are unable to provide you with a final response within this time frame, we will write to you explaining why and advise you when you can expect a final response.

If we don’t deliver our service as expected, we’ll learn from your feedback and put this right as fast as we can. If we don’t uphold your complaint, we’ll explain why in our final response.

Step 4

If more than 8 weeks from the date of your complaint has past and you haven’t received a final response, or you remain dissatisfied with the final response you have received, you can write to:

Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR

You must refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service within 6 months of the date on the final response.

Help to Buy customer charter

Our promise to you

We want to make your experience with our people, products and service, as helpful, straightforward and honest as we can. We will always aim to treat you fairly.

This means we will:

• Supply information that is clear, simple and reliable
• Be open and transparent
• Protect your personal information
• Be fair and impartial when talking to you
• Listen and learn from what you tell us
• Make it easy for you to comment, compliment or complain
• Point you to others who can help if we cannot.

What we ask of you

To get a swift and correct response, we ask you to:

• Always provide your Help to Buy account number, your contact details and a case reference if possible
• Treat all our staff with courtesy, respect and patience
• Supply true, exact, and prompt information
• Give us time to get the best outcome.

Together, we can get better outcomes for all. There are times when we all feel overwhelmed, upset or frustrated. We will not tolerate threatening, abusive or violent behaviour. In these circumstances, our staff are not obliged to engage with a customer by letter, phone, on email or social media.

Published 17 November 2022
Last updated 16 June 2023 + show all updates

1. 16 June 2023

   Contact details updated

2. 17 November 2022

   First published.