Unreasonably persistent or vexatious complainants
The aim of the Council’s Compliments, Comments and Complaints policy is to deal with complaints in a fair, consistent and proportionate manner, to find out what went wrong and try to put things right.
Most complaints we receive are resolved either informally or through the complaint handling process without difficulty, and we do not normally need to limit the frequency or nature of contact that customers may have with our staff during this time.
However, in a small number of cases, some customers may interact with our staff or Councillors in a way that is unreasonable, either by behaving unacceptably or by being unreasonably persistent in the frequency and nature of their contacts. Others may pursue complaints which have appear to have no substance, or which have already been investigated and determined.
Such actions can impede investigation of their complaint, or complaints made by others. In some cases, they can have significant resource issues for the Council and hinder our ability to maintain normal service levels. They may also have a detrimental impact on staff wellbeing.
Our Unreasonable or vexatious complainants policy identifies situations where a customer, either individually or as part of a group, might be considered as acting unreasonably in pursuit of their complaint(s) and sets out how we will manage such behaviour.
The Unreasonable or vexatious complainants policy is available at: Unreasonable or vexatious complainants policy – Coventry City Council