Complaints procedure
How to complain or give other feedback about the Office of the Public Guardian.
Your feedback is important to us
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is committed to providing a high-quality service to everyone we deal with.
To do that, we need you to give us any comments you have about our service, to tell us when we get things wrong and when we get things right.
How we deal with your complaints
We aim to respond within 10 working days, however, due to high volumes of correspondence it is currently taking longer for us to reply. Please be assured that we will deal with your complaint as soon as we can.
OPG defines a complaint as ‘an expression of dissatisfaction that requires action and/or a response’.
What you’ll need to tell us
When you contact us, please give as much information as you can to help us understand and investigate your complaint, including:
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your full name, address and contact telephone number
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your reference number if you have one
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what went wrong
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when it happened
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who you dealt with
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what effect our actions had on you
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how you’d like us to resolve the matter
Complaints we cannot handle
Court of Protection and the High Court
If you want to complain about how the Court of Protection or the High Court has handled your case, you must contact the court.
The Court of Protection, the High Court and OPG are different organisations.
The Court of Protection appoints deputies and the High Court appoints guardians. OPG supervises deputies and guardians once they’ve been appointed by the courts.
OPG deals with complaints about its services, not about the High Court or the Court of Protection’s decisions or processes.
Legal advice or services
We cannot deal with complaints about legal advice or services. The Solicitors Regulation Authority may be able to help you.
Report a concern about an attorney, deputy or guardian
Contact OPG if you’re concerned about the actions of an attorney, deputy or a guardian.
Level of supervision (deputies)
If you’re unhappy with your level of supervision, you can ask for a review. Follow the instructions on the letter we sent you about your supervision level.
How to complain
Tell us about your complaint by calling, emailing or writing.
Phone: 0300 456 0300
Email: OPGComplaints@publicguardian.gov.uk
Office of the Public Guardian
PO Box 16185
Birmingham
B2 2WH
Fax : 0870 739 5780
If you’re not satisfied
If you’re not happy with what we tell you, you can write to OPG’s chief executive. The chief executive will look at how your complaint was handled and the outcome.
In your letter, we need you to do the following:
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Explain why you’re unhappy with the initial reply and what issues remain unanswered.
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Suggest how the situation should be remedied.
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Provide us with further information in support of unresolved issues (where requested).
If you’re not satisfied with the chief executive’s response, contact your MP to refer the complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
You must go through all these steps in OPG’s complaints procedure before your complaint can be referred to the ombudsman.
Resolving the matter
If we’ve made a mistake, we’ll:
- apologise
- explain what happened
- put things right as quickly as we can
We’ll consider refunding any reasonable costs directly caused by our mistakes or unreasonable delays. Costs can include:
- postage
- phone charges
- professional fees
You should keep your receipts if you want us to make a refund.
We’ll also make sure that we learn lessons from customer feedback and make improvements where necessary.
Positive feedback
Understanding what we have done well is just as important as understanding what we haven’t done well.
Your positive feedback helps us to provide the best possible service to all our customers.
If you found one of our services particularly helpful, supportive or professional, you can let us know by calling, emailing or writing.
Telephone: 0300 456 0300
Email: opgfeedback@publicguardian.gov.uk
Office of the Public Guardian
PO Box 16185
Birmingham
B2 2WH
Fax : 0870 739 5780