Home > About us > Policies and practices > Unreasonably persistent complainants
We recognise that the Ombudsman is often the last resort for complainants. We are also accountable for the proper use of public money and must ensure that that money is spent wisely and achieves value for complainants and the wider public.
We are committed to dealing with all complaints fairly and impartially and to providing a high quality service to those who make them. As part of this service we do not normally limit the contact complainants have with us.
However there are a small number of complainants who, because of the frequency of their contact with the Ombudsman’s Office, hinder our consideration of their, or other people’s, complaints. We refer to such complainants as ‘persistent complainants’ and, in exceptional cases, where this contact is unreasonable, we will take action to limit their contact with our Office.
The decision to restrict access to our service is taken at a senior level and any restrictions imposed are appropriate and proportionate.
In all cases we will write to tell the complainant why we believe their behaviour falls into this category, and ask them to change it.
If the behaviour continues, we will write to the complainant explaining that we are limiting their access to our Office, how that affects them and for how long. We will also tell them how they can complain if they disagree with that decision.
November 2004
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