Together We Build Dreams

Disputes or Complaints

What to do if you have a dispute or complaint?

We are committed to providing our customers with the best possible service. If at any time we have not met our obligations – or you have a complaint about any of our services – please inform us so we can work towards a resolution. We will endeavour to deal with your complaint promptly, thoroughly and fairly.

Dispute Resolution

What to do if you have a dispute or complaint?

We aim to provide the very best service for our clients. In the event that you are unhappy regarding any part of our service, our internal dispute resolution process provides that your complaint will be handled efficiently, honestly and fairly.

Lending Specialists Pty Ltd is authorised as a credit representative (Credit Representative number 397000) to engage in credit activities on behalf of Buyers Choice Licencing Pty Ltd (BCL) (ACN 626 172 281) (Australian Credit Licence number 509484) who may assist us in the investigation and resolution of your complaint.

Should you have a complaint about our services, please contact:

Loans Actually Pty Ltd Complaints Officer: BCL Complaints Officers:
Glenn McKissack
Office Manager Complaints Officers
ADDRESS:
PO Box 4308 Knox City Centre VIC 3152		 ADDRESS:
PO Box 4300 Knox City Vic 3152
PHONE:  03 9764 2777 PHONE:  03 97636355
FAX:  N/A FAX:  03 97638655
EMAIL: info@lendingspecialists.com.au EMAIL:  bcl@buyerschoice.com.au

The Complaints Officers are senior personnel in our organisation and in BCL and have the necessary experience and authority to handle your complaint and make relevant decisions on outcomes.

The complaint need not be in writing and may be presented by any reasonable means, for example letter, telephone, email or in person. Please ensure you give us full particulars of your complaint.

If you are not satisfied with the response to your complaint, you may contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) (of which we and BCL are members) on:

Online: www.afca.org.au

Email: info@afca.org.au

Phone: 1800 931 678

Mail: GPO Box 3 Melbourne VIC 3001

If the complaint is about privacy and you are not satisfied with the outcome of our investigations, you may ask the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to consider the complaint. The Information Commissioner can be contacted online at http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint or on 1300 363 992.

 AWARENESS

All staff and consultants who deal with (or are likely to deal with) clients, are aware of the names, titles and telephone numbers of our and BCL Complaints Officers.

Each staff member and consultant is also instructed in how to transfer a client who has a complaint to our Complaints Officer or BCL Complaints Officer; and what client details to record if the Complaints Officers are for any reason unavailable (this information will include a minimum of the name, telephone number, and description of the product or transaction to which the complaint relates).  We and BCL do not charge any fee in respect to any complaint.

TIMELINESS

We will provide a written acknowledgement of receipt of the complaint to the client as soon as possible, unless the complaint is otherwise resolved in the meantime.

We will ensure that a final response is given to you as soon as possible, but within twenty one (21), thirty (30) or forty five (45) days of receipt of the complaint.

If we or BCL are unable to deal with the complaint as it relates to a third party (for example, a lender), we or BCL may ask you to contact the relevant third party.

For certain types of complaints, involving “default notices” or urgent disputes such as “applications for hardship”, a final response must be provided within twenty one (21) days.

For privacy complaints, we are required to give you a final response within thirty (30) days.

Final responses to complaints not involving financial hardship or privacy issues should be received by you within forty five (45) days.

If we cannot respond to you within relevant timeframes, we will inform you of the reasons for the delay and of your right to refer the complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) or, in the case of privacy complaints, to the Australian Information Commissioner.

We will have provided a final response to you if we:

  • (a) Accept the complaint and, if appropriate, offer redress, or
  • (b) Offer redress without accepting the complaint; or
  • (c) Reject the complaint.

WRITTEN RESPONSE TO A CLIENT

We will give you a written response to your complaint and the reasons for reaching a particular decision on the complaint. We will adequately address the issues that are raised in the complaint.

Where practicable, our response will refer to applicable provisions in Legislation, Codes, Standards or Procedures.

We will inform you of the contact particulars of our EDR Scheme and, for privacy complaints, the Australian Information Commissioner if you are not satisfied with the outcome of our investigating the complaint.

REMEDIES

If we accept the complaint and are of the view that it is appropriate to offer redress to you, that redress may be non-financial as well as, or instead of, financial. If we consider that a financial remedy is appropriate then we will provide compensation for any direct loss or damage caused.

We will, when determining the appropriate remedy, take into consideration the extent of loss or damage suffered by you, relevant legal principles, EDR scheme rules, the MFAA Code of Practice and other relevant codes of conduct and concepts of fairness and relevant industry best practice.

DATA COLLECTION

We will keep data concerning the complaint in such form and manner as we think fit and will enable analysis according to:

  • (a) Type of complaint;
  • (b) Subject of complaint;
  • (c) Outcome of complaint;
  • (d) Timeliness of response.

So that we can identify any systematically recurring problems, we will classify complaints accordingly.

Subject to legal constraints including our privacy obligations, we will make available data collected in respect of the complaint upon request to the EDR Scheme, of which we are a member, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

REVIEW

We will review our Internal Dispute Resolution Procedures at least every three (3) years to ensure that our complaints systems are operating effectively. This document was reviewed on 30th August 2019

Third party products or services

If your complaint relates to a product or service acquired through a third party (for example, a lender) we may ask you to contract the relevant third party. They will deal with your complaint under their complaints resolution process.

If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint by the third party under their complaints resolution process, you are entitled to have your dispute considered by their External Dispute Resolution Scheme. Please contact the third party for further details.

Keeping you informed

Our Complaints Area will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within five business days. If unable to resolve the complaint/dispute to your satisfaction within five business days, they will write to you advising the procedures we will follow in investigating and handling your complaint.

Within 45 calendar days from the date you lodged the complaint with us, we will write to you advising you the outcome of the investigation and the reason/s for our decision, or if required, we will inform you more time is needed to complete the investigation.

Still not satisfied?

If you do not think we have resolved your complaint to your satisfaction, you may take the matter – free of charge – to the relevant External Disputes Resolution Scheme (provided it is within the scheme’s terms of reference) as detailed below. You may also refer the matter to the relevant External Disputes Resolution Scheme at any time, but if our internal process is still in progress, they may request that our internal processes be complete before considering the matter further.

Our external dispute resolution service provider is the Credit and Investments Ombudsman, which can be contacted via:

BLSSA’s external dispute resolution service provider is the Credit and Investments Ombudsman, which can be contacted via:

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