Complaints procedure
You can complain to us if you're not happy with the service you've had. There are 3 stages you should follow if you want to make a complaint.
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) closed on 31 March 2014. It has been replaced by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). This is the information about VOSA that was published at the point that it closed. It is no longer current.
Stage 1
You should first take your complaint to local staff who will be happy to help. Alternatively you can email or ring our national helpline who will forward your comments to your local manager.
Email: csccomplaints@vosa.gsi.gov.uk </div>
Telephone: 0300 123 9000
Stage 2
You can contact VOSA’s Customer Complaints Co-ordinator directly if you’ve been through stage 1 and aren’t happy with the response. Your complaint will be independently investigated and a full reply provided.
Contact details:
Customer Complaints Co-ordinator
VOSA
Berkeley House
Croydon Street
Bristol
BS5 0DA
Email: complaints@vosa.gsi.gov.uk </div>
Telephone: 0117 954 3406
Fax: 0117 954 3209
Stage 3
If you’re unhappy with the response from the Complaints Co-ordinator, you can contact VOSA’s Chief Executive. Our corporate office will independently review your complaint and provide a detailed response.
Contact details:
VOSA Corporate Office
2nd Floor
Berkeley House
Croydon Street
Bristol
BS5 0DA
Email: vosa.corporateoffice@vosa.gsi.gov.uk </div>
Telephone: 0117 954 3475 or 0117 954 3274
Fax: 0117 954 3209
Taking things further
You can ask VOSA’s Chief Executive to pass your complaint to the Independent Complaints Assessor (ICA) if you’ve been through stage 3 and aren’t happy with the response.
The ICA is:
- independent of Department of Transport and VOSA
- not a civil servant
The ICA looks at whether we have:
- handled your complaint appropriately
- given you a reasonable decision
It doesn’t cost you anything to have your complaint assessed by the ICA.
The ICA will need to see all the letters and emails between us. We aim to send this to them within 15 working days of you asking us to pass your complaint to them.
The ICA will decide how best to deal with your case and will then contact you.
The ICA will aim to review your case within 3 months. They’ll tell you if they expect it to take longer.
When the ICA has completed their review they’ll contact you with their findings and any recommendations they consider appropriate to both you and us. This ends their involvement with your case.
The ICA can look at complaints about:
- bias or discrimination
- unfair treatment
- poor or misleading advice
- failure to give information
- mistakes
- unreasonable delays
- inappropriate staff behaviour
The ICA can’t look at complaints about:
- government, departmental or agency policy
- matters where only a court, tribunal or other body can decide the outcome
- legal proceedings that have already started and will decide the outcome
- an ongoing investigation or enquiry
- personnel and disciplinary decisions or actions
An ICA also can’t look at any complaint that:
- has not completed all stages of our complaints process
- is more than 6 months old from the date of the final response from us
- has been, or is being, investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Finally, you can ask your MP to refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) if you’re not satisfied and you’ve had your complaint investigated by the ICA.
Contact details:
PHSO Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk </div>
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
Telephone: 0345 015 4033
‘The service we give you’ leaflet sets out VOSA’s customer promises and a summary of what you can expect from all areas of VOSA’s activities.