Make a Complaint
Unipol Complaints Policy
1. Purpose
We hope our tenants and other service users do not have cause to complain, but we know sometimes things can go wrong. Unipol welcomes feedback and complaints from anyone using or encountering its services, including students seeking advice or accommodation, tenants, former tenants where relevant, parents, guardians or other authorised representatives, landlords, members of the public, contractors, partner organisations, and other stakeholders.
We welcome feedback and complaints as a means of improving our service. We might not always be able to change things in the way you want, but we will handle complaints with professionalism and courtesy, manage them efficiently and fairly, provide an explanation of why we do what we do, and use what we learn to improve our services and practice.
2. Complaint Stages
Stage 1 - Informal Complaint
If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service provided by Unipol, we would recommend first discussing it with us.
If you are a tenant in most cases, this would be directly with your Residence / Property Manager. In this instance, the complaint can be either verbal or written. Please note complaints must be received within 6 months of the end of the tenancy.
Parents, guardians or other representatives may raise a complaint on behalf of a tenant. However, before Unipol can discuss the complaint or communicate with the representative on the tenant’s behalf, written consent must be provided by the tenant at the time of raising the complaint. An email from the tenant confirming their permission is sufficient.
If you are a landlord or Student using Unipol’s services, please discuss this with our advice team in the first instance. The complaint can be either verbal or in writing.
We’ll usually offer a call or face-to-face meeting so we can talk through your concerns and try to put things right quickly. If you’d prefer to communicate in a different way, we’ll be happy to do that.
All informal complaints will receive a written response within 5 working days.
Stage 2 – Formal Complaint
If this does not resolve the matter to your satisfaction, if you are unhappy with the response you receive, or if the complaint is about a member of staff and you would like to raise it in confidence, please submit your complaint in writing to:
Unipol will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and aim to provide a substantive written response to your complaint within 10 working days of receiving it. Where matters are complex, Unipol will write to the complainant within the 10 days explaining why a longer period of consideration is necessary, together with an anticipated time when a full response can be provided.
All complaints will be closed within 15 working days at each stage of the complaints process, unless further correspondence is received to escalate the complaint.
Stage 3 – Senior Management Review
If you are unhappy with the outcome of the Stage 1 or 2 complaint process, you can request an internal review by a senior manager.
This will be completed within 10 working days from the date the complaint is escalated.
3. Challenging a Deposit Deduction as a Unipol Tenant
Only family tenants currently pay a deposit.
If you wish to challenge a deposit deduction, you should in the first instance follow the complaints process set out above and raise your concerns directly with Unipol.
If, after following Unipol’s complaints process, you feel the matter hasn't been resolved to your satisfaction, then you can lodge a dispute with the Dispute Service. Information about the service, the procedure and the online form to lodge a dispute can be found at:
You will need to quote your Tenancy Deposit Scheme tenant reference number.
4. Who will handle your complaint
Your complaint will be assigned a case handler.
Where a complaint concerns a member of staff, it will be managed by an appropriate manager who is not directly involved in the matter. Where a complaint concerns a manager, it will be reviewed by a more senior manager. Where a complaint concerns a trustee, it will be referred to an appropriate senior officer and managed in accordance with Unipol’s governance arrangements to ensure independence, fairness, and proper oversight.
5. Staff Training
Unipol will ensure that staff receive appropriate training on this policy and on their role in receiving, handling, escalating, and learning from complaints. Training will support staff to understand the complaints process, expected standards of communication, recording requirements, confidentiality, and when to involve managers or senior colleagues.
6. Complaint Policy Oversight
Overall accountability for the effective operation of the complaints policy sits with a designated senior manager, who is responsible for oversight of complaint handling, reviewing outcomes and recurring themes, ensuring that learning from complaints is used to improve services, procedures, and staff practice, and keeping this policy under review.
7. Other Options to Complain as a Unipol tenant
Tenants living in Unipol properties also have additional external options for complaints to be considered, which are detailed below.
If you need some advice about your complaint or accessing any of the options below, you can seek advice and support from:
- Your Students’ Union
- University Student Services
- Advice organsiations such as Shelter or Citizens Advice
The Unipol website also contains helpful information on raising concerns with our landlord www.unipol.org.uk/advice
Complaining under the Unipol Code or the National Code
If you're a Unipol tenant and believe there's been a breach of the Unipol Code or the National Code of Standards, or if your complaint has not been responded to within 28 days of it being logged, you can make a Code Complaint.
First, you must have exhausted Unipol's internal complaints process.
You can check which Code your property falls under and how to use the Code Complaints Process at:
Unipol Code for Shared Student Housing
National Code for Large Developments
Since Unipol is both a member of the Codes and also the Administrator of the Codes, Unipol will ultimately pass on any unresolved complaint to be investigated by DASH (Decent and Safe Homes). Further information about DASH can be found at www.dashservices.org.uk
Seeking Redress
If you are a tenant or ex-tenant of Unipol and wish to seek redress because it has not been possible to reach agreement through the Unipol procedure, you are able to raise a complaint with The Property Ombudsman who will carry out their own investigation. As part of The Property Ombudsman Code of Practice, Unipol are to comply with any award or direction made by the Ombudsman, if deemed appropriate following their investigation.
The contact details for the Ombudsman are:
The Property Ombudsman
Milford House
43-55 Milford Street
Salisbury
SP1 2BP
01722 333306
admin@tpos.co.uk
If you are still not satisfied with our final viewpoint (or more than 8 weeks has elapsed since the complaint was first made) you can request an independent review from The Property Ombudsman without charge. You will need to submit your complaint to The Property Ombudsman within 12 months from the date of our final viewpoint, including any evidence to support your case.
As part of The Property Ombudsman Code of Practice, Unipol is to comply with any award or direction made by the Ombudsman, if deemed appropriate following their investigation. Exclusions from Unipol’s Complaints Policy
Generally, complaints procedures cannot be used for matters:
- where the courts have already become involved
- where police action is pending or a criminal charge has been laid
8. Complaints about other landlords
If you are a tenant of a landlord who is a Member of a Unipol Code, these schemes have complaints processes which you can access online at the links below:
Unipol Code for Shared Student Housing
National Code for Large Developments