Guidance

Companies House unacceptable customer behaviour policy

Published 5 October 2020

Companies House is committed to providing an excellent service to our customers and we will always do our best to help - see our customer charter and vulnerable customer pledge. In return, we expect our customers to behave appropriately and treat our employees with courtesy, consideration and respect, to allow them to carry out their work.

Most of our customers are satisfied with our services but we recognise that occasionally some are not.

We accept that some people may act out of character in times of trouble or distress. But in a very small number of cases some customers behave in ways that are inappropriate and unacceptable, despite our best efforts to help them.

Demonstrating unacceptable behaviour will make it difficult for us to deal with your query or complaint effectively. If you do wish to make a complaint about our level of service or the accuracy of the Companies House register, please read our complaints procedure.

1.  About our unacceptable customer behaviour policy

This policy enables us to deal with unacceptable customer behaviour professionally and consistently. It lets both employees and customers know what we consider to be unacceptable and outlines the steps we may take to deal with such behaviour. It applies to all our customers.

2. What behaviours are unacceptable?

It is difficult to produce a comprehensive list of actions that would be considered unacceptable, but examples are given under these 2 broad headings.

2.1 Aggressive or abusive behaviour

This consists of behaviour (written or verbal) that we consider might cause employees to feel intimidated, offended, bullied or harassed.

For example:

• threatening emails and telephone calls
• inappropriate comments on social media - read our social media use
• inappropriate banter, including innuendo
• malicious allegations
• any form of physical violence or threats of physical violence
• derogatory racial, sexist, ageist or homophobic remarks
• comments relating to disability, perceived gender, religion, belief or any other protected characteristic

2.2 Unreasonable demands and vexatious complaints

Customers might make unreasonable demands on Companies House through the:

• amount of information they seek
• nature and scale of service they expect
• volume of correspondence they generate

We accept that persistence is not necessarily a form of unacceptable behaviour. What amounts to unreasonable demands will depend on the circumstances of the complaint and the seriousness of the issues raised by the customer.

However, customers who will not accept a decision taken in relation to their query, or persistently contact us about the same issue, can generate unreasonable demands - taking up a disproportionate amount of time and resources. This can affect our ability to provide a service to other customers.

Examples of behaviour that would fall within unreasonable demands and vexatious complaints include but are not limited to:

• refusing to follow our complaints procedure
• excessive volume of contact without allowing sufficient time for a response to previous correspondence
• insisting on seeing or speaking to a particular member of staff when a suitable alternative has been offered
• not accepting that an issue in relation to a legal requirement cannot be resolved by Companies House despite having been informed that this is the case
• inappropriate visits to our offices
• excessive contact because of an unwillingness to accept or agree with a policy decision adopted by Companies House

If a complaint is considered to be vexatious, we’ll take the actions outlined in this policy. We’ll inform you that future correspondence will only be reviewed to ensure no new issues have been raised - if not, it will be filed without acknowledgement.

3. Actions we may take as a result of unacceptable behaviour

Our employees do not have to tolerate unacceptable or vexatious behaviour when communicating with our customers. When this occurs, all our employees have the right to:

• place callers on hold
• end the call
• not reply to an abusive email or letter

However, before taking such action, it is reasonable to expect you are warned that your conduct is considered to be offensive to allow you the opportunity to moderate your behaviour.

Where these circumstances arise, we may take the following steps:

1. We’ll ask you to modify your behaviour and explain why.
2. If behaviour continues our employees will remove themselves from the situation.
3. If the communication is by telephone you will be informed the call will be terminated.
4. The employee will inform a manager and the incident will be recorded.
5. In all cases a manager will investigate the situation and decide what action to take - which could include limiting your contact with us.
6. We’ll refer the matter to the police where a criminal offence has been threatened or committed.

4.  Communication restrictions

If you continue to display unacceptable behaviour, the head of profession can authorise the decision to place a temporary or permanent communication restriction.

When communication is being restricted you will be told of the decision. Where possible, we will tell you in writing - but we may also tell you by telephone, supported by relevant notes on our records.

Communication might be:

• limited to being conducted in writing
• limited to a specific individual
• removed from social media and access to these channels blocked - see our guidance on social media use
• contact might be limited to a specific internal email address or telephone number
• placed on file without a further response if correspondence has previously been answered

Where circumstances are serious enough to warrant legal restrictions, we may apply for an injunction or court order to prohibit contact/poor behaviour.