Customer Access Charter
Our Promise to you
We will provide the highest quality of customer care however you
wish to contact us.
- We will respect and treat all our customers fairly and equally
and provide a translation service or specific formats of documents
as required.
- We will provide access to our services 24/7 via our website,
www.allerdale.gov.uk. This provides facilities to make a report or
application, check information and make payments, bookings, have
your say and find information and map details. We will try to
encourage and support customers to use our website as our preferred
and most efficient method of contact.
- All employees will identify themselves and carry appropriate
documentation for this purpose if they visit you.
- Office opening hours and contact details will be clearly
displayed in the council buildings, on our website and within
appropriate literature.
Our Customer Service standards
If you contact us via our website we will:
- Provide an immediate meaningful response. Where this is not
possible, an automated acknowledgement to your web form will let
you know when a full response will be provided.
- Reply to you in plain English.
If you email us we will:
- Reply within two working days with a meaningful response or an
acknowledgement advising when a full response will be
provided.
- Give you the name and email address of the officer/ section
dealing with your enquiry, where we have been unable to answer your
enquiry immediately.
- Reply to you in plain English.
If you telephone us we will:
- Strive to answer calls within 20 seconds
- Call you back if you ask us to
- Strive to answer your enquiry immediately or return your call
with an answer the same day. Where this is not possible, we will
call you back let you know when a full response will be
provided
- Give you the name and contact details of the officer/ section
dealing with your enquiry, where we have been unable to answer your
enquiry immediately.
If you write to us we will:
- Provide a meaningful response within 10 working days. Where
this is not possible, we will let you know when a full response
will be provided
- Reply to you in plain English.
If you visit us we will:
- Greet you in a polite and helpful manner
- See you as soon as possible
- Let you know the reason for your wait if a pre-arranged
appointment has been delayed.
- Arrange a private interview room if required.
If we visit you we will:
- Arrange an appointment in advance, if that is appropriate
- Provide you with our identification before entering your
property
- Let you know of any information we may need before we
visit
- Give you as much notice as possible if an appointment has to be
altered or cancelled
What we ask of you
To help us deliver the best service we can, we ask that all
customers:
- Are courteous and respectful towards us
- Provide any information we need as soon as possible
- Let us know if you need a service to be provided in a different
way to meet your individual needs
Help us to improve our service
- We welcome your comments on the service we provide. We will use
them to help us to improve our service.
- If you would like to make a suggestion of improvement, you can
complete our online form or alternatively you may contact us
details in the full document below.
- If you think something has gone wrong, we need to know so that
we can put it right. There is a formal complaints procedure that is
easy to use.