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Your final response

What is a final viewpoint letter?

Once you have fully investigated a complaint, you should issue a final viewpoint letter to the complainant. This provides a written statement which clearly expresses your final view on all the complaints raised, and should include any goodwill offers made. It should also refer the complainant to us if they remain dissatisfied with your decision and advise them of the timescale for bringing a complaint to us.

A final viewpoint letter should therefore:

  • Fix the date when the complainant has completed your in-house complaints procedure;
  • Clarify the issues considered by you under that procedure;
  • Advise the complainant of the timescale for bringing a complaint to TPO.

The final viewpoint letter should be headed as such, so it is clear to the complainant that they have completed your procedure.

Find a copy of a final viewpoint letter in our complaints handling toolkit here.

Can you consider the complaint without a final viewpoint letter?

Within our Terms of Reference, if more than eight weeks have elapsed since the complaint was first made to you in writing, and it is evident that no response has been made, we can take a complaint forward to be reviewed.

On most occasions, we will contact you first to ascertain the situation. However, if you are unable to offer a response to the complaint, as explained above, a final viewpoint letter may not be required for us to consider the dispute.