Making a complaint
The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland is committed to providing high-quality customer service at every opportunity. We are always happy to answer any questions you might have and to listen to your comments. However, as with every organisation, there may be occasions when our service falls below the standard that we would expect.
In the first instance, we would encourage you to try to resolve the issue with the person with whom you have been dealing, or with their manager.
If you are dissatisfied with the response you receive and wish to make a formal complaint, please follow the process below. Examples of what the Institute may investigate are:
- Failed to provide a service or an acceptable standard of service.
- A delay in providing a service.
- Made a mistake in the way it has provided a service.
- Failed to act in a proper way.
- Provided an unfair service.
- Failed to comply with data protection rights.
Please note that as separate procedures are already in place, this process will not deal with matters related to:
- Online exams – Enquires regarding recent exams where it is felt that performance has been adversely affected should be submitted via your MyCG (Extenuating Circumstances).
- Examination results. Enquires about exam results including the process of appealing results can be found here.
- Complaints about the professional conduct of our members should be referred to Head of Secretariat by email.
- Decisions made by the Membership Committee regarding admission to Fellowship as the Committee’s decisions are final.
Complaints Process
Stage 1
There are several ways you can contact us if you want to make a complaint. You can either:
- Fill in an online form.
- Send us a letter to Head of Secretariat, The Chartered Governance Institute, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, EC1N 8TS.
When making a complaint, you must provide the following information:
- Your name, address and membership/student number (when appropriate)
- Details of what went wrong
- The member of staff you dealt with
- The outcome you are looking for
The relevant head of department will review your complaint and respond within ten working days after receiving it. Please provide as much evidence as you can to support your complaint, this might include any relevant e-mail trail, correspondence etc.
Stage 2
If you are dissatisfied with the response you receive to your formal complaint, you can send an email to complaints@cgi.org.uk or write to the Head of Secretariat, explaining why you do not agree with our decision, and providing any additional evidence that you believe will support your claim.
Your communication will be acknowledged within five working days by the Head of Secretariat who will arrange for a member of our Executive Team, who has no prior involvement with the issue, to review your complaint and give you a decision as soon as possible. This will normally be no more than 20 working days from the time of the acknowledgement of your complaint and, if we need more time to reach a decision, we will keep you informed of progress and the date when a decision is expected to be made.
Stage 3
If you are not satisfied with our decision in stage 2, you have the right to appeal. Appeals can only be heard on the ground that the process has not been applied consistently or fairly. Please address your appeal to the Head of Secretariat.
The Chief Executive’s Office will investigate, review your appeal and make a decision. You will be notified of the findings within ten working days. Please note that the outcome of this review is final and further correspondence on the matter will not be entertained.
How we will use your personal data
The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland will hold personal data about an individual making a complaint, which the individual provides. Your personal data will be held securely and will only be used internally to help address the issue raised.
All paper and electronic records of the complaint, including any supporting documentation, will be kept in accordance with our retention schedule, until the decision has been reached. It will be archived for the period of 6 months thereafter for any future references or disputes.
For more information about how we manage use of personal data, please see our privacy notice cgi.org.uk/privacy
