Internal complaints procedure
This page explains how you can help us to deal with your complaint and what to do if the problem has not been resolved to your satisfaction.
As a mutual society, our members are at the heart of everything we do. While we want to provide the best service possible, we recognise that sometimes things can go wrong. When they do, we want to know so that we can help sort them out as quickly as possible.
This page explains how you can help us to deal with your complaint and what to do if the problem has not been resolved to your satisfaction.
If you have a complaint
If, for whatever reason, you are unhappy with our products or services, please follow the process below.
Stage 1
Contact your local branch or our Customer Services Department at head office either by telephone, in writing, in person at the branch, or by email using our secure contact form.
Wherever possible, please provide your account number and a daytime contact telephone number.
Stage 2
In the unlikely event that we have been unable to resolve your complaint at the first stage, you can contact the Executive Secretary at our Head Office, either in writing or by telephone.
The address is:
Saffron House, 1A Market Street, Saffron Walden, Essex, CB10 1HX. Telephone: 01799 522211.
All aspects of your complaint will be reviewed by the appropriate person who will provide a final response.
Stage 3
If you are unhappy with our response, you may be eligible to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You must do this within six months of our final response. Details of this service will be given to you with our final response.
It is important that you give us the opportunity of solving the problem before referring it to the Ombudsman Service, as they normally only consider a complaint when it has not been possible to reach a satisfactory outcome with a building society directly.
How long before I get a reply?
We will acknowledge your complaint within five working days and endeavour to provide you with a full response within 10 working days. We aim to resolve the complaint within four weeks. These timescales should allow us to fully investigate and respond to your concerns.
However, where possible, we will do our very best to respond to you more quickly.
If after eight weeks we are not in a position to issue a full response to your complaint, we will confirm this, together with the timescale within which you can expect a final response. At this stage, if you are dissatisfied with the delay you may refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Finally ....
We hope you never need to use this complaints procedure. However, if you do, please be assured that we will deal with your complaint as quickly and fairly as possible. As a customer, you are important to us
Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
Saffron Building Society is a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme established under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Payments under the Scheme are limited to a maximum of £50,000, that is 100% of the first £50,000 of an investor's total invested and/or deposits. Most investors are covered, including individuals and small firms. Although most shares and deposits in UK building societies are denominated in sterling, the euro and other European Economic Area currencies are also covered. Further details are available on request from the Society.
Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS
