Managing unreasonable customer behaviour policy

There are 3 stages we will go through before designating someone as unreasonable, unreasonably persistent or vexatious:

1. We will confirm that the original complaint or request has been or is being dealt with properly and in line with the relevant policy, procedure and/or statutory guidelines and that we have made every effort to satisfy the request or resolve the issue/complaint. At this stage the service will give the individual an informal warning on their behaviour.

2. The Assistant Director for the relevant service area will issue a formal warning (by email or letter) to the customer requesting that they modify their behaviour.

3. If the customer does not modify their behaviour then the Assistant Director will speak to the relevant Director to request a restriction to contact. The Director will seek advice from the Corporate Complaints Manager who will liaise with the Director of Legal, Governance and HR (Monitoring Officer) and Chief Executive who may grant the restriction to contact and may in certain cases require further action to be taken if necessary through statutory agencies – this will be tailored to the individual circumstances.

The options available for restricting contact include (but are not limited to):

• Placing limits on the number and duration of contacts with staff per week or month.
• Offering a restricted time slot for necessary calls.
• Limiting to one method of contact (telephone, letter, email, etc.)
• Requiring the customer to communicate only with one named member of staff.
• Requiring any personal contacts to take place in the presence of a witness and in a suitable location.
• Refusing to register and process further complaints/requests about the same matter.
• Requiring the customer to make contact by telephone only through a third party e.g. solicitor/councillor/friend acting on their behalf.
• Limiting or regulating the customer’s use of the council’s services e.g. libraries or leisure centres.
• Refusing the customer access to any council building except by appointment.
• Informing the customer that further contact on the matter of the complaint/request will not be acknowledged or replied to.

When the decision has been taken to classify a customer’s behaviour as unreasonable or to classify a request as vexatious, the Director (or the Chief Executive as required) will contact the customer to:

• Detail what action we have decided to take and why;
• Explain what it means for the customer’s contacts with the organisation;
• Advise how long the restrictions will last and when the decision will be reviewed (this will be a maximum of 12 months depending on the severity of the situation);
• Enclose a copy of this procedure for the customer’s information.

If a customer’s behaviour has been classed as unreasonable or requests are vexatious the details will be held within the Employee Protection Register for information. Details will be checked, removed or amended after each review.