Complaints and Disputes

Who should you approach if you have a complaint about the service you have received?

Police Credit will endeavour to investigate and resolve any complaint promptly, thoroughly and fairly and has its own internal dispute resolution procedure. If your grievance, complaint or dispute relates to a feature of an insurance policy, a claim you have made, a feature of a Travelex or financial planning product you will need to contact the Complaints Officer of the product provider. If you are concerned or have a complaint about the service provided to you by Police Credit, you should take the following steps:

Firstly, contact the representative you have been dealing with about your grievance. Where you have a complaint, simply contact us on 13 63 73 and ask to speak to the representative. If you do not know the name of the representative, ask to speak with the manager of respective department.

Secondly, if you believe your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved within five working days, ask to be referred to the Complaints Officer who will arrange for a senior officer with independent decision-making authority to review the matter for you. They will write to you within 21 working days advising the outcome of the review and the reason/s for their decision.

If you are not satisfied with the determination, or the internal dispute resolution procedure of the product provider, the external dispute resolution scheme may be able to assist you.

 You may download our Complaints and Disputes Resolution Guide, or alternatively you may read the following:

Complaint and Disputes Resolution

The directors, managers and staff of Police Credit understand that, although we do our best to provide a high level of service, you may at times feel that there are issues that have not been resolved to your satisfaction

At this point you may feel dissatisfied but are unsure how to have your complaints resolved

So that Members have the opportunity to make these complaints known, Police Credit has developed a Complaints and Dispute Resolution Procedure as an additional service which members can access free of charge.

This procedure means:

 You have a way of having your complaints addressed;

 Our directors and senior management will be aware of the issue that is of concern to you; and

 Procedures and products can be adjusted, if possible, to improve our service.

Free of charge

There is no charge for this Guide. Standard charges may however apply in accordance with Police Credit’s schedule of fees and charges for providing copies of previous transactions or to retrieve documents from archives when requested by you.

What is a Complaint?

A complaint is a verbal or written expression of dissatisfaction by a member about a credit union product or service.

What is a Dispute?

A dispute arises if you make a complaint to your credit union about a credit union product or service, and are not satisfied with the response that you receive.

Things you should know about
Internal Complaints and Dispute Resolution:

1. Steps 1 to 6 of our complaints service, set out below, apply. Procedures may vary however if the dispute resolution needs to go further. This is because more specific legislation or codes of practice may apply.

2. You are not obliged to pursue a dispute with Police Credit using our internal complaints and dispute resolution procedure.

3. If you use our internal complaints and dispute resolution procedure, you may still commence legal proceedings before, after or at the same time as using the Iinternal complaints and dispute resolution procedure.

4. Police Credit’s participation in the internal complaints and dispute resolution procedure is not a waiver of any rights it may have under the law, or under any contract between you and Police Credit. An example of a contract between you and Police Credit may be the terms and conditions of an account or the terms and conditions of a Visa Card.

5. This Guide is not a contract between you and Police Credit, and it is not enforceable against Police Credit.

Steps included in the process of our
Complaints and Dispute Resolution Service:

Step 1 How to make a complaint

In most circumstances your complaint can be settled to your satisfaction by simply making us aware of it. You can raise your complaint with our staff personally over the counter or by telephone or in writing by letter, facsimile, memo or e-mail. If a staff member is unable by reason of authority or experience to handle the matter it will be referred to a more senior or experienced person. In the great majority of cases your complaint will be dealt with promptly and to your satisfaction and you will not need additional assistance.

Step 2 Recording your complaint

All complaints and disputes will be recorded in our Complaints and Dispute Register. Where a complaint cannot be resolved to your satisfaction immediately, it may be necessary for you to answer some questions and complete a Complaint Form in order that Police Credit’s management may properly investigate the complaint. A staff member, when required, will assist you with registering your complaint/dispute including assisting you to complete a Complaint Form. When receiving a verbal complaint the staff member will complete the details of the complaint in the Register on your behalf. The staff member will then read the Register of complaint to you and obtain your consent to its accuracy before taking any further action.

Step 3 Dispute notification

If a staff member cannot immediately resolve the complaint/dispute to your satisfaction we will acknowledge receipt of the complaint to you in writing within 5 working days. We will also advise you in writing of the procedures we will follow in investigating and handling your complaint/dispute.

Step 4 Dispute investigation

Your dispute will then be fully investigated by the Complaints Officer and a decision made on the matter.

You can contact the:

Complaints Officer of Police Credit
121 Cardigan Street, Carlton Vic 3053
Phone 13 63 73 Fax 03 9349 1631
Email carlton@policecredit.com.au

Step 5 How you will be informed of the outcome

In the majority of cases you will be advised of the outcome in writing within 21 working days. Should there be exceptional circumstances causing a delay we will advise you of the circumstances causing the delay and when we expect the matter to be resolved. It is our expectation that even in the most complex matters, a dispute should be resolved in a maximum of 45 working days.

Step 6 External Dispute Resolution

If, however, in spite of our best efforts you are not satisfied, you have access (free of charge) and will be referred to a relevant External Dispute Resolution scheme.