Unacceptable Behaviour Policy
Introduction
This policy outlines Calico Home’s approach to managing unacceptable behaviour from customers including our definition of unacceptable behaviour and what actions we will take in response.
2. Aims and Objectives
We are committed to delivering high quality customer service and ensuring that we treat customers with respect, dignity, and fairness in all of our interactions with them.
This supports the Calico Homes vision:
“Going one step further with customers and local communities to provide affordable, safe and quality homes and personalised services; supporting customers to live their best lives in challenging times.”
Calico Homes recognises the importance of meeting customer expectations and delivering against our customer strategy, but this must not come at the cost of abuse of services or mistreatment of Calico Homes colleagues. We expect our customers to show respect and consideration to our colleagues and in return, customers can expect our staff to be professional, polite and helpful at all times.
The policy will enable transparency for customers and colleagues on what unacceptable behaviour is, how it will be managed and how we will ensure that customers are treated fairly and equitably. This policy will also outline how we will take vulnerabilities into account in our decision making, as well as the process for monitoring and appeals.
3. Scope
The unacceptable behaviour policy is applicable to all customers, future customers and visitors of Calico Homes and will be managed by the Customer Experience team. All service areas will be responsible for reviewing cases of unacceptable behaviour from customers and managing this in accordance with this policy. The unacceptable behaviour policy is closely linked with our Customer Feedback Policy, community safety policy and reasonable adjustment policy.
4. Definitions
Calico Homes is committed to ensuring customers are able to be heard and express their opinions and feelings about our services. We understand that in times of trouble or distress customers may act out of character and we do not consider it unacceptable if a customer is determined in their approach to us in seeking outcomes to their complaint.
However, the actions of customers who are angry, demanding or exceptionally persistent may result in unreasonable demands being placed on our time and resources or unacceptable behaviour being directed towards Calico Homes colleagues. It is these actions that we consider unacceptable and aim to manage under this Policy.
We consider the use of social networking sites and the internet to perpetrate or encourage aggression and/or abuse including any of the above types of behaviour towards our colleagues to be unacceptable behaviour. (We will consider any messages posted via social media or other internet-based media, including email, in the same light as any written or spoken communication).
Within this policy we set out three types of unacceptable behaviour considered under this policy:
- Aggressive or abusive behaviour
- Unreasonable demands
- Unreasonable persistence
4.1 Aggressive or abusive behaviour
We recognise that customers may have valid reasons for feeling upset, such as if they believe we have not met their expectations or have caused them undue inconvenience. However, we firmly oppose any escalation of anger into aggression towards our staff.
Examples of abusive or aggressive behaviour include (but are not limited to):
- physical violence or harassment.
- Intimidation or threatening behaviour towards staff members by any means.
- Deliberate physical damage caused by a customer to Calico Homes owned or managed property.
- Derogatory or discriminatory remarks about staff members or the organisation.
- Making inflammatory or unsubstantiated allegations; or
- recording meetings or conversations (whether face-to-face or on the telephone) without the prior knowledge or consent of other people involved.
Assaults, criminal/deliberate damage or a hate motivated crime(s), will be managed in accordance with Calico Homes Community Safety Policy and will involve working in partnership with the police. In the case of deliberate damage, Calico Homes reserves the right to recharge the customer in accordance with our rechargeable repairs policy and treat this as a breach of tenancy.
4.2 Unreasonable demands
Unreasonable demands are requests that are over and above our service level, or don’t make sense for the situation. If a request is much more than what’s needed, doesn’t have a good reason, or seems like it’s meant to cause trouble or waste company time, it’s seen as unreasonable.
Examples of such conduct include (but are not limited to):
- Requesting unrealistic deadlines.
- Sending an excessive amount of correspondence.
- Demanding an excessive amount of information from or sending excessive information to the organisation.
- Insisting on communicating exclusively with specific staff members.
- Emailing large numbers of recipients across the organisation.
- Repeatedly changing the substance of a complaint or raising unrelated concerns.
- Refusing to take or follow our advice around solutions that will resolve issues they are experiencing and demanding action by Calico Homes.
4.3 Unreasonable persistence
We understand that some customers may find it difficult to accept when we’re unable to offer further assistance or provide a higher level of service than what’s already been given. The way in which customers approach colleagues about these issues may be reasonable but it is the ongoing persistence in pursuing this, which can disrupt the overall service, that then becomes unreasonable.
Unreasonable persistence includes (but is not limited to):
- Refusing to accept a decision made by Calico Homes.
- Refusing to accept explanations relating to what Calico Homes can and cannot do.
- Pursuing a case without presenting any new significant information.
- Refusal to accept the reasonableness of our published timescales.
- Continuing to pursue a complaint or other matter without presenting any new information. (In these cases we will remind customers about the provision in the Customer feedback policy and the service provided by the Housing Ombudsman).
5. Managing unacceptable behaviour
5.1 Our response to violence
We will refuse to see customers who are violent, threatening violence, carrying a weapon or under the influence of alcohol or drugs and will report these incidents to the police if necessary and will immediately end any visits or meetings in these circumstances.
Following this, due to the potential risk to Calico employees, all visits and meetings will be conducted in pairs, with a warning marker added onto the Active H system and the customer will be informed of this in writing, including right to appeal and how and when this will be reviewed.
5.2 Incidents of aggression or abuse towards colleagues
Where customers exhibit aggressive or abusive behaviour we will first warn them that their behaviour is unacceptable to give them a chance to amend it. If the behaviour continues, we will:
- Terminate phone calls.
- End visits or meetings.
Where calls or visits/meetings are terminated as a result of aggressive or abusive behaviour we will write to the customer to warn them about their behaviour, the breach to their tenancy agreement and the potential consequences that we may enact in line with this policy or their tenancy.
“Tenant’s responsibilities
3.1 Violence, domestic violence, anti-social behaviour and hate crime.
3.1.1 You must not behave (or threaten to behave or encourage anyone else to do so) in a violent, menacing, threatening or abusive manner:
- In your home or in its locality towards any person who is lawfully in or in the locality of your home, including your neighbours, other members of your household and our staff, agents and contractors
- In our offices, and their locality towards any person who is lawfully in or in the locality of our offices, including your neighbours and our staff, agents and contractors
- In any other place towards our staff, agents, and contractors.”
In some circumstances, in response to potential risks to Calico employees, we may require restrictions relating to visits with customers which includes visiting them in pairs. Where this is the case, a warning marker will be created on Active H and a letter will be sent to the customer which sets out why we have issued visits in pairs, when this will be reviewed and how they can appeal. In some exceptional circumstances, notification to the customer may not be suitable. On these rare occasions full justification will be provided within Active H and signed off by a Head of Service.
5.3 Managing unreasonable demands and persistence.
We will let customers know when we assess their behaviour as unacceptable in relation to unreasonable demands or persistence and advise them of the potential action we will take if the behaviour continues. If the behaviour does continue, we may take action including (but not limited to):
- providing a single point of contact
- limiting contact to a single form i.e. to writing, email or telephone only
- limiting contact to certain times or to a limited number of times per week or month
- declining to give any further consideration to an issue unless any additional evidence or information is provided
- only considering a certain number of issues in a specific period.
- agreeing to communicate via an appropriate third party.
We will write to the customer to advise them of any actions or limitations we have set, with details of how to appeal and how this will be monitored moving forward. We will update this information as a warning marker in Active H. (see Appendices)
6. Considering customer vulnerabilities and access
Calico Homes work to ensure that all customers are treated fairly and in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. Calico Homes requests and maintains a record of all equality, diversity and inclusion information within our Active H system which includes any vulnerabilities a customer has.
When considering a customer’s behaviour in line with this policy we will seek to understand the customer’s circumstances and review this in accordance with our reasonable adjustments policy. We will be sensitive to any additional needs a customer has and will support them in accessing support e.g., through a third party in relation to their contact and communication with us, particularly where their vulnerability is impacted their ability to manage their behaviour.
We will always ensure that there is at least one way that a customer can access our services.
7. Appeals
Customers that have actions taken in relation to unacceptable behaviour such as restrictions to the way they communicate with us have the right to appeal. We will advise customers of this in our communication to them and the appeal will be reviewed by a relevant Head of Service within 10 working days. The customer will be advised in writing as to the outcome of the appeal and customers will be directed to the Customer Feedback policy and Housing Ombudsman service if they remain dissatisfied with the decision.
8. Monitoring
We regularly review and monitor all warning markers within our Active H housing management system. All markers and actions taken in accordance with the unacceptable behaviour policy will be reviewed every 6 months. If the behaviour has persisted during the timeframe of any actions we will consider further action in line with our community safety policy which may include legal action against the customer. We will update customers on the outcome of their review and any changes made as a result. This policy will be reviewed every 3 years.
9. Regulatory and Legal Compliance
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1985
- Equality Act 2010
10. Links with other Calico Strategies, Policies and Procedures
- The Humanitarian Offer – Calico Group Customer Strategy
- Reasonable Adjustments Policy
- Complaints policy
- Community Safety Policy
- Rechargeable repairs policy