We’re proud of the high-quality and accessible customer service we deliver. We’re also proud of the inclusive and supportive working environment we provide our staff. As such, we won’t tolerate any behaviour that causes offence or upset.

Below we set out what we mean by unacceptable behaviour and the actions we’ll take to protect our staff and maintain an effective service.

What behaviour is unacceptable?

We define this as:

• actions or language (whether verbal or written) that may cause staff to feel intimidated, offended, threatened or abused
• communication that we consider unreasonably demanding or persistent in frequency, type and/or tone

What action will we take?

In most cases, when we consider someone’s behaviour unacceptable, we’ll give a warning and ask them to change it. If the behaviour continues, we may restrict contact. 

If the behaviour is so extreme that it threatens the safety or welfare of our staff, we may report it to the police and/or consider taking legal action.

Any action we take will be evidence-based and proportionate, balancing the wellbeing of our staff with the interests of the customer.

What do we mean by contact restrictions?

If any warning is ignored and the customer continues to behave unacceptably, we may: 

• end the current conversation
• restrict contact to a particular format, frequency and/or length
• allow contact only with a specified staff member
• stop all contact

If we choose to stop all contact, we’ll usually write to tell the customer why, what the restriction means and who made the decision. Customers have the right to ask for a review of our decision if they disagree with it. 

Any future correspondence from restricted customers will be read and filed without any response, unless we consider that it contains new information. If further contact is made by phone, we’ll remind the customer of the restriction and end the call.

Who is authorised to restrict contact?

We’ll never take a decision to restrict contact lightly. Any action will be authorised by a senior manager, such as a head of investment or engagement. 

Any requests to review a restriction will be dealt with by the director of the relevant team.

Thank you in advance

It’s rare that customers behave unacceptably, but when they do, we’ll respond quickly and decisively. 

Thank you in advance for acting with the same professionalism, courtesy and respect that you can expect from us.