IOP Complaints Procedure

The Institute of Physics always aims to provide a high-quality service to all individuals and organisations we work with, but occasionally we do not get it right. We welcome and value feedback, good and bad, as this helps us to resolve issues, where possible, and improve the service that we provide to you in the future.

We respect the right of members, service users, supporters and stakeholders to register their complaint with external regulators but, to enable us to resolve your complaint promptly, we request that you exhaust our internal systems before you consider using external channels.

Scope

If your complaint relates to our fundraising, please view our Fundraising Complaints Procedure, email [email protected], or write to Fundraising Complaints, Governance & Compliance Department, Institute of Physics, 37 Caledonian Road, London N1 9BU, UK.

If your complaint is about an IOP member, please refer to ‘Submitting a complaint about a member’ or contact [email protected].

If your complaint is about an IOP employee, please contact [email protected] and the matter will be referred to the employee’s line manager or otherwise as appropriate.

If your complaint is about data protection and how we are handling your personal information, please see our Privacy Notice or contact [email protected].

If your complaint relates to IOP Publishing Limited or any of its subsidiaries, please contact [email protected].

This Complaints Procedure addresses all other types of complaint and seeks to ensure that:

• it is simple to contact us – complaints can be received by telephone, electronically, or in writing;
• complaints are acknowledged and investigated as soon as possible, and within the timeframes outlined below;
• you are kept updated and informed about the progress of your complaint;
• we listen to all feedback to help us to review and improve our services; and
• we communicate to you about any service improvements made as a result of your complaint.

How can I make a complaint?

To submit a complaint, you may contact us by:

• directly emailing the IOP team you are engaging with;
• emailing [email protected];
• calling us on +44 (0)20 7470 4800 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm except public holidays); or
• writing to us at:
  Complaints, Institute of Physics
  37 Caledonian Road
  London N1 9BU
  UK

When making a complaint, please provide as much information as possible, in particular:

• your contact details;
• the reason for your complaint;
• where and when the cause for the complaint arose; and
• the name of anyone involved (if known) and the outcome you are hoping for.

What will happen next?

We will aim to acknowledge all complaints within 5 working days of receiving them electronically, and within 10 working days if received by post. Following acknowledgment, we will aim to provide our response within an additional 10 working days.

If your complaint is of a complicated nature, or requires further investigation, we will aim to provide our response within 25 working days of our acknowledgment of your complaint.

If it is not possible to give a response within those timescales, we will contact you to explain why, and to provide an indication of when a full response can be expected.

It is helpful for complaints to be made as soon as possible after the incident to enable us to investigate fully. Complaints made more than 3 months after an incident may be hard to resolve satisfactorily, but we will always investigate to the best of our ability.

If you are not satisfied

If you are not satisfied with our response, please let us know and your complaint will be investigated by a senior member of staff. The senior member of staff will write to you setting out the outcome of their review and the rationale for their decision. An acknowledgement will be sent in writing within 5 working days of receiving your response, and we will aim to complete the review within a further 25 working days.

Can I take my complaint further?

We will always try to resolve your concerns through our internal escalation procedure but, if you think we haven’t, you can forward your complaint to an external regulator. The primary bodies in the UK are the Charity Commission for England and Wales, and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). Our lead regulator is the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

The Charity Commission has identified the types of issues it considers as serious and that may pose a significant risk to a charity’s beneficiaries, assets, services or reputation.

The OSCR’s guidance is on its website.