Complaints handling procedure.

1. Our commitment

UK Visa Tax is committed to providing a high-quality, professional service to all our clients. We take any complaint seriously and treat it as an opportunity to put things right and to improve our service. This procedure explains how to complain, how we will handle your complaint, and your right to complain to our regulator, the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA), at any time.

2. What this procedure covers

This procedure applies if you are dissatisfied with any aspect of the immigration advice or services you have received from us, or with a bill. You will not be treated less favourably, or suffer any disadvantage, because you have made a complaint.

3. Stage 1 – Complaining to us

Most concerns can be resolved quickly if you raise them with us first. Please contact:

Your complaint will be handled by the Principal. If your complaint concerns the Principal personally, or you would simply prefer not to raise it with us, you may complain directly to the IAA at any time (see Stage 2).

You can complain in writing, by letter or email. To help us deal with your complaint as quickly as possible, please include:

your name and contact details;

your file or reference number, if known;

a description of what happened, with relevant dates;

what you believe went wrong and how it has affected you; and

how you would like your complaint to be resolved.

4. How we will handle your complaint

We will deal with your complaint promptly, fairly and impartially. Our timescales are:

Acknowledgement: we will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 5 working days of receiving it.

Investigation: we will investigate fully and impartially. This will usually involve reviewing your file, our attendance notes and any relevant correspondence, and considering the points you have raised.

Full response: we will send you a full written response within 20 working days of our acknowledgement. If we need more time – for example, because the matter is complex – we will write to explain why and give you a revised date.

5. Possible outcomes

Once we have completed our investigation, we will tell you our conclusions in writing and explain the reasons for them. Where your complaint is upheld in whole or in part, then depending on the circumstances we may:

offer an apology and a clear explanation;

correct or redo the work concerned, where appropriate at no further charge;

refund or adjust our fees, where appropriate; and/or

review and improve our procedures to prevent the issue happening again.

6. Professional indemnity insurance

We hold professional indemnity insurance with a reputable insurer, as required by the IAA Code of Standards, and we maintain that cover at all times while we provide regulated immigration advice and services. Our current insurer is Hiscox, under policy number 15660241, and our level of cover is £500,000 for any one claim.

The policy covers claims arising from the immigration advice and services we provide, including any litigious matters that may arise if a client is dissatisfied with our services. If you are considering taking legal action against UK Visa Tax, we confirm that we hold professional indemnity insurance to meet any relevant claim.

Details of our current insurer, policy number and level of cover are available to you on request, and are provided to the IAA as part of our registration and continued regulation.

7. Stage 2 – Complaining to the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA)

You have the right to complain to the IAA at any time – before, during or after our own complaints process. The IAA regulates immigration advisers and can investigate complaints about the service they provide. You can contact the IAA as follows:

Please note that the IAA generally cannot consider a complaint about something that happened more than 12 months ago, although it may use its discretion depending on the circumstances. The IAA does not give immigration advice and cannot intervene in Home Office decisions.

8. How we record complaints

We record every complaint in a central complaints log. For each complaint we record:

the complainant’s name;

the date the complaint was received;

the nature of the complaint;

who dealt with it;

the action taken and the outcome; and

the date the complaint was closed.

We retain complaint records for at least six years, in line with our file-retention obligations and data protection law.

9. Confidentiality and fair treatment

We treat all complaints confidentially and in accordance with UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018). Information about your complaint will be used only to investigate and resolve it, and shared only with those who need to see it, including the IAA where relevant.

10. Availability and review

We provide a copy of this procedure to clients and prospective clients on request, refer to it in our client care letter, and make it available to the Commissioner on request. We review this procedure periodically to ensure it remains effective and compliant with the IAA Code of Standards.