We want to ensure that you have a really positive experience of using our advice services.
Our Commitment To You
Confidentiality
Citizens Advice South Somerset will provide you with a confidential advice service. This means we will not tell other people (even your family or friends) or other agencies about your visit or your issues.
Respect
We will treat you fairly and respectfully. This means that we will not judge you or tell you what to do, nor will we treat one person more favourably than another.
Quality
Our trained advisers will give you their full attention. We will always have a team of specialist supervisors available to oversee our work with you and to ensure that the advice you are given is of high quality.
Time
We give everyone as much time as they need and we don’t rush our work. This means that you may have to wait before speaking to one of our advisers. However once it is your turn we will give you all the time you need.
Feedback and Complaints
We encourage feed-back on our service. Information about how to make a comment or a complaint is available at reception or from any of our team.
What We Ask Of You
Please behave in a way which is sensitive and respectful of the needs of other clients and our team. If your behavior is disruptive we will discuss this with you and we may ask you to leave.
In some extreme circumstances we may withdraw your access to our services, temporarily or permanently. An extreme circumstance would include if your behavior has been aggressive, threatening, abusive, disruptive or another serious issue that prevents us from working effectively with you and progressing your case.
What You Can Expect As A Client of Citizens Advice
Access To Our Services
You don’t need to make an appointment at one of our walk-in services. Nor do you need to book to use the telephone advice or email advice services as these are available on demand Monday – Friday. Full details of our services are available from anyone of our team and they are published on our website.
Advisers
All our advisers are trained to the same high standard and their work is supervised. We don’t offer clients the option to select an individual named adviser. The supervisor will allocate your adviser based on the advice issue you have and the team available on the day.
Gathering and Processing Information About You
When you use our service we will invite you to complete a registration form and we will ask for your permission (consent) to store and process your data. You will have the option to remain anonymous if you wish to. During your interview we will take notes about you and your enquiry and the advice we provide. We ensure that information about you is held securely and our systems are compliant with GDPR and the relevant Data Protection legislation.
We are registered with the Information Commission. Our registration number is; Z6631380. You can find out more about how we store and use data in our Privacy Policy. Full details are published on our website or you can ask for a copy at reception
Sometimes we will ask you to sit back in the waiting room until someone is available. Occasionally we may have to ask you to come back.
Delivering Your Advice
At first we will be focused on making certain that we understand how we can help you. Once we have completed this assessment we will explain your options and next steps. It may be that you will need help from another adviser. Sometimes we will ask you to sit back in the waiting room until someone is available. Occasionally we may have to ask you to come back.
Conflict of Interests
Very occasionally we are asked to help people who are in dispute with each other. We will not help both parties because this creates a conflict of interest. If this situation arises we will signpost one of the parties to another source of help.
Paperwork
We may need to see original copies of your documents, for example a tenancy agreement. We will give you back all your original paperwork.
Waiting
We are always trying to reduce our waiting times. When we are busy you may wait for more than an hour. We will do our best to give you an idea of how long you may be waiting and keep you informed at all times.
Customer Satisfaction
We want to make sure that you receive a high quality service from us. Sometimes we will ask you to give us feedback.
Changing An Arrangement You Have With Us
If you need to change an arrangement we have made with you please call our administration number: 01935 847 688.
Please note the administration number is a message receiving facility and is not for requesting an appointment. You don’t need an appointment to use our service you can drop in, telephone, email or webchat.
If you do leave a message on the administration number requesting an appointment with us we will not call you back as currently we don’t have the staff capacity to offer this service.
