Complaints Policy

Our commitment to you

We work with integrity and transparency to ensure we deliver the very highest standards of service. If a customer feels they’ve not received a satisfactory standard of service, we aim to investigate and resolve any complaints at the earliest opportunity.

Ensuring that making a complaint is as easy as possible.
Dealing with your complaint fairly, promptly and treating your complaint seriously.
Making sure that we learn from any complaints and as a result improve the level of our services.

1. How to complain

If you are dissatisfied with an element of our service, please contact us at complaints@zolacar.com

Alternatively, you may write to us at the following address: Zolacar, Complaints Manager, PO Box 102, Blyth, NE24 9DR or call us on 0808 189 8244.

2. Third Parties complaining on your behalf (i.e. Claims Management Companies, Solicitors, Friends, etc.)

Should you wish for a third party to represent your claim, we would require from the third party a Letter of Authority containing your signature.

The Response Time (see below), will not commence until we have received the correct authority from the third party representing you. Once we have the correct documentation and confirmation that you have actually instructed the third party, we will then begin to investigate your complaint in line with the Response Time (see below).

The majority of third parties charge a fee for utilising their services, therefore it is advised that you take the time to fully understand the fees payable in your agreement with them, especially in circumstances where they claim a refund may be due or they claim an outstanding balance could be wiped. If you make a complaint directly to us, there is no fee chargeable, you simply send us a message as above outlining your dissatisfaction with our service and we will deal with your complaint.

No third party has any powers to ‘speed up your complaint’, or ‘obtain you a higher pay-out’. It takes exactly the same time frame to investigate your complaint and the investigation will have the same outcome whether you decide to complain directly to us or through a third party. If you have been dissatisfied with the service you have received from a Claims Management company or believe that they have not acted in your best interest, you can seek further advice or submit a complaint for free to the Claims Management Ombudsman (cmc.financial-ombudsman.org.uk).

If we are made aware by the third party that they are withdrawing the complaint, our investigation will cease, and we will take this as confirmation to close the complaint.

In cases where a complaint is upheld, any refunds due will be paid directly to your bank account, not the third party’s bank account.

If you are making a complaint on behalf of a deceased customer, we would require a death certificate to authenticate this.

Additionally, to investigate the complaint, we would require further documentation to disclose any information regarding the customer’s account along with the final response letter. This is to satisfy our data protection requirements and to verify that you have the correct authority to make this complaint on behalf of this person.

This documentation will comprise of:

A copy of the Will
A copy of the Death Certificate
Your photographic ID (passport or driving license)
A copy of the Grant of Probate (if the executor of the will is not the individual who wants details to this account)
A Letter of Administration (if there is no will present, you will need to apply for this in order to manage the financial affairs of a deceased individual)

Please note, that if any redress is to be awarded following an investigation into a complaint, these funds would be made payable to the executor detailed on either the Will or Letter of Administration.

3. Response time

We will acknowledge your complaint quickly and in any event within five (5) working days of it being received by our complaints team. Your complaint will be handled by one of the complaints handling team and they will issue you with an outcome of the investigation. We will attempt to both resolve your complaint through investigation and to respond to your complaint with the outcome as soon as possible but no later than eight (8) weeks from the date the complaint was received. Our final response letter will be sent to you via email, so please make sure we have your most up-to-date email address on file.

4. If you are not satisfied with the outcome

We are committed to provide the best possible outcome however, should you feel dissatisfied with our final response you can refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service within 6 months of our final response to your complaint.

If we have not issued you with a final response within eight (8) weeks, you have the right to have your complaint dealt with by the Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”).

You may write to FOS at the following address: The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR, or refer to their website at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk, or call 0800-023-4567 or email complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Your right to complain to FOS is independent of your right to take your complaint to the CCTA. You are not required to approach the CCTA before FOS.

Further sources of information and advice that are freely available to you, include local trading standards and the Citizens Advice Bureau – www.citizensadvice.org.uk. To find your local office, look in your phonebook.

1. How to complain

2. Third Parties complaining on your behalf (i.e. Claims Management Companies, Solicitors, Friends, etc.)

3. Response time

4. If you are not satisfied with the outcome

5. Complaints Data