Stikkord: The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

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Dear Sir

Our reference: EN- 183538 (Please quote this reference in any future communication regarding this matter).

Your complaint to the Parliamentary Ombudsman

Thank you for your complaint of 30 January 2014 about HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). You complain that HMRC are harassing you and are not using your correct title when addressing correspondence to you. I was sorry to learn of your concerns.

At this time we have decided that we should wait until you have completed HMRC’s complaints process before we look at your concerns further. This is because we often find that organisations themselves are in the best position to resolve complaints about their service quickly and effectively. It is also important for organisations to have full opportunity to resolve complaints themselves before we become involved.

In addition to their internal complaints process HMRC also have a second tier to their complaints procedure called the Adjudicator. Their role is to look at how HMRC deal with their cases. We expect you to have been to the Adjudicator and received their final decision before you bring your complaint to us.

In order to progress your complaint you should follow the complaints process as laid down in HMRC’s complaints fact sheet which I have provided a link to below:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/factsheets/complaints-factsheet.pdf

If the Adjudicator is unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you can then return to the Ombudsman. If you do need to return to us, it is important that the Adjudicator have provided you with their final response to your complaint, and confirmed that there is nothing further that they can do to try to resolve your concerns. 

At that stage you will need to ask an MP to refer your complaint to us, as we cannot consider a complaint about HMRC unless it has been referred to us by an MP. You can find out who your MP is using the following website: www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/ or by telephoning the House of Commons Information Office on: 020 7219 4272.

The easiest way to bring your complaint to us is by completing our complaint form and then passing it to your MP to sign. I have attached a copy of our form, which can also be downloaded from our website at: www.ombudsman.org.uk.

When you complete the form, please make sure you give us as much information as you can, as this will help us to deal with your complaint as quickly as possible.  In particular, you will need to:

• explain what was wrong with the response(s) you have already received to your complaint;


• say what you want us to achieve for you;


• send us copies of any relevant correspondence and papers that you have;


• give written permission for us to obtain any papers and records connected to the complaint; and


• confirm whether you are taking legal action about it (because, by law, that may prevent us from looking at the complaint).

You also ask if we can provide an email address for contacting HMRC on. I am sorry but we are not able to do this. However, HMRC’s advice line may be in a better to position to provide this information for you. You can find the telephone numbers for their centres listed on the complaints fact sheet.

I hope this information is clear and assists you in taking your complaint forward.

If you think our decision is wrong, you can request a review. To enable us to review our decision you must provide us with evidence that our decision was based on inaccurate information; or you have new information that was not previously available to us; or we overlooked or misunderstood your complaint. To request a review, you can complete a ‘What to do if you think our decision is wrong’ form, which is available on our website: www.ombudsman.org.uk. Alternatively, you can contact me for the form. You would need to submit your review request form to us within three months of the date of this email.

Yours faithfully

Pamela Micallef

Customer Service Officer

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

T: 0345 015 4033

E: Pamela.Micallef@ombudsman.org.uk

W: www.ombudsman.org.uk

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