Complaints policy.

1.               Definitions

1.1            In this Complaints Policy the following expressions have the following meanings:

“Appeal”

means your request to escalate a Complaint from Level One to External Resolution if you are not satisfied with the outcome at Level One;

“Appeal Handler”

means an employee of Little Umbrella Events working at a senior level who will handle External Resolution Complaints;

“Business Day”

means, any day (other than Saturday or Sunday) on which ordinary banks are open for their full range of normal business in England;

“Complaint”

means a complaint about services sold by Little Umbrella Events, about our customer service, or about our employees or subcontractors;

“Complaint Handler”

means an employee of Little Umbrella Events working at a senior level who will handle Level One Complaints;

“Complaints Policy”

means this document;

“Complaints Procedure”

means the internal complaints handling procedure of Little Umbrella Events which is followed when handling a Complaint and is available from https://www.littleumbrellaevents.co.uk/complaints  for your reference;

“Complaint Reference”

means a unique code assigned to your Complaint that will be used to track your Complaint;

“External Resolution”

means the referral of your Complaint to an external body or organisation for resolution if you are not satisfied with the outcome at Level One;

“Level One”

means the first stage in our complaints handling procedure under which your Complaint will be handled by a Complaint Handler; and

 

2.               Purpose of this Complaints Policy

2.1            Little Umbrella Events welcomes and encourages feedback of all kinds from our customers.  If you have a Complaint about our services, our customer service, or about our employees or subcontractors, not only do we want to resolve it to your satisfaction but we also want to learn from it in order to improve our business and customer experience in the future.

2.2            It is our policy to resolve Complaints quickly and fairly, where possible without recourse to formal investigations or external bodies.  In particular, the aims of this Complaints Policy are:

2.2.1      To provide a clear and fair procedure for any customers who wish to make a Complaint about Little Umbrella Events, our services, our customer service, or about our employees or subcontractors;

2.2.2      To ensure that everyone working for or with Little Umbrella Events knows how to handle Complaints made by our customers;

2.2.3      To ensure that all Complaints are handled equally and in a fair and timely fashion;

2.2.4      To ensure that important information is gathered from Complaints and used in the future to avoid such a situation arising again.

 

3.               What this Complaints Policy Covers

3.1            This Complaints Policy applies to the provision of services by Little Umbrella Events, to our customer service and to our employees or subcontractors.

3.2            For the purposes of this Complaints Policy, any reference to Little Umbrella Events also includes our employees or subcontractors.

3.3            Complaints may relate to any of our activities and may include (but not be limited to):

3.3.1      The quality of customer service you have received from Little Umbrella Events;

3.3.2      The behaviour and/or professional competence of our employees or subcontractors;

3.3.3      Delays, defects, poor workmanship or other problems associated with the provision of services by Little Umbrella Events;

3.4            The following are not considered to be Complaints and should therefore be directed to the appropriate person:

3.4.1      General questions about our services;

3.4.2      Matters concerning contractual or other legal disputes;

3.4.3      Formal requests for the disclosure of information, for example, under applicable legislation;

 

4.               Making a Complaint

4.1            All Complaints, whether they concern our services, our customer service, or our employees or subcontractors, should be made in one of the following ways:

4.1.1      In writing, addressed to Rebecca Shaw, Little Umbrella Events, 19 Northcote Close, Liverpool, L5 4TD;

4.1.2      By email, addressed to Rebecca Shaw at rebecca@littleumbrellaevents.co.uk with the subject line “Complaint: [Name and Date of event]

4.1.3      By contacting us by telephone on 07765 170425

4.2            When making a Complaint, you will be required to provide the following information in as much detail as is reasonably possible:

4.2.1      Your name, address, telephone number and email address (We will contact you using your preferred contact method as your Complaint is handled);

4.2.2      If you are making a Complaint on behalf of someone else, that person’s name and contact details as well as your own;

4.2.3      If you are making a Complaint about a particular transaction, the invoice number;

4.2.4      If you are making a Complaint about a particular employee or subcontractor of ours, the name and, where appropriate, position of that employee or subcontractor;

4.2.5      Further details of your Complaint including, as appropriate, all times, dates, events, and people involved;

4.2.6      Details of any documents or other evidence you wish to rely on in support of your Complaint;

4.2.7      Details of what you would like Little Umbrella Events to do to resolve your Complaint and to put things right.  (Please note that whilst we will make every reasonable effort to accommodate such requests, we are not bound to take any action beyond that which we may be contractually or otherwise legally obliged to take.)

 

5.               How We Handle Your Complaint

5.1            Little Umbrella Events operates a one-stage complaints handling procedure.  Following our Complaints Procedure, our aim is to always resolve Complaints to your satisfaction at Level One without further recourse.  If you are not satisfied at the end of Level One, you may escalate your Complaint to External Resolution as detailed below.

5.2            Level One:

5.2.1      Upon receipt of your Complaint, the Director identified above in Section 4.1 will log the Complaint in our secure filing system and will acknowledge receipt of it in writing within 5 Business Days, giving you a Complaint Reference.

5.2.2      When we acknowledge receipt of your Complaint we will also provide details of your Complaint Handler.  This may be the Director to whom your original Complaint was directed (as above) or your Complaint may be assigned to another appropriate member of our team.

5.2.3      If your Complaint relates to a specific employee or subcontractor, that person will be informed of your Complaint and given a fair and reasonable opportunity to respond.  Any communication between you and the employee or subcontractor in question should take place only via the Complaint Handler and we respectfully ask that you do not contact the employee or subcontractor in question directly concerning the Complaint while we are working to resolve it.

5.2.4      If we require any further information or evidence from you, the Complaint Handler will contact you as quickly as is reasonably possible to ask for it.  We ask that you use reasonable efforts to supply any such information or evidence quickly in order to avoid delaying the complaints handling process.  If you are for any reason unable to provide such information or evidence we will use all reasonable efforts to proceed without it, however please be aware that we will not ask for further information or evidence unless we consider it important to the successful resolution of your Complaint.

5.2.5      We aim to resolve Level One Complaints within 5 Business Days, however in some cases, particularly if your Complaint is of a complex nature, this may not be possible.  If this is not possible for any reason you will be informed of the delay, the likely length of the delay and the reasons for it.

5.2.6      At the conclusion of the Level One complaints procedure, regardless of the outcome, we will provide you with full details of our investigation, our conclusions from that investigation, and any action taken as a result.  You will also be reminded of your right to appeal our decision and escalate the complaint to External Resolution in the form of an Appeal.

5.3            External Resolution:

5.3.1      If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your Complaint at Level One you may seek External Resolution of your Complaint from an agreed mediator.  For details of complaint and conflict resolution mechanisms available from a mediator, please contact the Citizens Advice Bureau.

 

6.               Confidentiality and Data Protection

6.1            All Complaints and information relating thereto are treated with the utmost confidence.  Such information will only be shared with those employees or subcontractors of Little Umbrella Events who need to know in order to handle your Complaint.

6.2            We may ask for your permission to use details of your Complaint (with your personal details removed) for internal training and quality improvement purposes.  If you have given such permission, you may revoke it at any time by contacting Rebecca Shaw, Director, whose details are provided above in Section 4.1.

6.3            All personal information that we may collect (including, but not limited to, your name and address) will be collected, used and held in accordance with the provisions of UK data protection law (including but not limited to the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003) and your rights thereunder, as set out in our Privacy Policy available from https://www.littleumbrellaevents.co.uk/privacy-policy

 

7.               Questions and Further Information

If you have any questions or require further information about any aspect of this Complaints Policy or about our Complaints Procedure, please contact Rebecca Shaw, Director by post at 19 Northcote Close, Liverpool, L5 4TD, by telephone on 07765 170425, or by email at rebecca@littleumbrellaevents.co.uk

 

8.               Policy Responsibility and Review

8.1            Overall responsibility for this Complaints Policy within Little Umbrella Events and the implementation thereof lies with Rebecca Shaw, Director.

8.2            This Complaints Policy is regularly reviewed and updated as required.

8.3            This Complaints Policy was adopted on 9 July 2023.

8.4            This Complaints Policy was last reviewed on 11 November 2025.

Complaints Handling Procedure.

1.               Definitions and Interpretation

1.1            In this Complaints Handling Procedure the following expressions have the following meanings:

“Appeal”

means a request from a Customer to escalate a Complaint to External Resolution following an unsatisfactory outcome at Level One;

“Appeal Handler”

means an employee of Little Umbrella Events working at a senior level who will handle External Resolution Complaints;

“Business Day”

means, any day (other than Saturday or Sunday) on which ordinary banks are open for their full range of normal business in England;

“Complaint”

means a complaint about services sold by Little Umbrella Events, about our customer service, or about our employees  or subcontractors;

“Complaint Handler”

means an employee of Little Umbrella Events working at a senior level who will handle Level One Complaints;

“Complaints Policy”

means our customer complaints policy, available from https://www.littleumbrellaevents.co.uk/complaints;

“Complaint Reference”

means a unique code assigned to a Complaint that will be used to track that Complaint;

“Customer”

means a customer of Little Umbrella Events  and includes potential customers (no purchase necessary);

“Decision Letter”

means a letter sent by a Complaint Handler or Appeal Handler to a Customer informing that Customer of the outcome of their Complaint;

“External Resolution”

means the referral of a Complaint to an external body or organisation for resolution by a Customer if that Customer is not satisfied with the outcome at Level One;

“Investigation Report”

means the report prepared by a Complaint Handler or Appeal Handler detailing his/her investigation;

“Recommendation”

means the recommended resolution to a Complaint made by a Complaint Handler or Appeal Handler; and

“Resolution Action”

means the available actions to be taken in response to a Complaint as detailed in Section 8.

 

2.               What this Complaints Handling Procedure Covers

2.1            This Complaints Handling Procedure applies to Complaints pertaining to the provision of services by Little Umbrella Events, to our customer service and to our employees or subcontractors.

2.2            For the purposes of this Complaints Handling Procedure, any reference to Little Umbrella Events also includes our employees or subcontractors.

2.3            Complaints may relate to any of our activities and may include (but not be limited to):

2.3.1      The quality of our customer service;

2.3.2      The behaviour and/or professional competence of our employees or subcontractors;

2.3.3      Delays, defects, poor workmanship or other problems associated with the provision of services;

2.4            The following do not constitute Complaints.  Customers raising such questions or matters should be directed to the appropriate person:

2.4.1      General questions about our services;

2.4.2      Matters concerning contractual or other legal disputes;

2.4.3      Formal requests for the disclosure of information including, but not limited to, those made under the applicable legislation;

3.               Receipt and Recording of Complaints

3.1            Customers may make Complaints to Little Umbrella Events using any of the following methods:

3.1.1      In writing, addressed to Little Umbrella Events, 19 Northcote Close, Liverpool, L5 4TD

3.1.2      By email, addressed to Rebecca Shaw at rebecca@littleumbrellaevents.co.uk with the subject line – “Complaint: [Name and date of event]”

3.2            Upon receipt of Complaints, the following steps should be taken within 5 Business Days:

3.2.1      If a written Complaint is received by post, Rebecca Shaw, Director must communicate to the customer that this has been received and provide a timescale for a considered reply within 5 business days, the details of this complaint will be logged with information regarding the event and held in accordance with the privacy policy.

3.2.2      If a written Complaint is received by email, Rebecca Shaw, Director must must communicate to the customer that this has been received and provide a timescale for a considered reply within 5 business days, the details of this complaint will be logged with information regarding the event and held in accordance with the privacy policy.

3.2.3      If a Complaint is made by telephone, Rebecca Shaw, Director must email or write to the client within 2 business days confirming the details of the complaint and with a timeline for a considered response.

3.3            All Complaints must be given a Complaint Reference and forwarded to an appropriate Complaint Handler, selected in accordance with Section 6.1 within 28 Business Days.

3.4            All Complaints must be acknowledged in writing within 5 business days of receipt by Rebecca Shaw, Director.  The acknowledgement should inform the Customer of their Complaint Reference, their assigned Complaint Handler and should include copies of Little Umbrella Events’ Customer Complaint Policy and this Complaints Handling Procedure.

 

4.               Complaint Information

4.1            Customers are advised in our Complaints Policy that the following information should be provided in as much detail as is reasonably possible when making a Complaint:

4.1.1      The Customer’s name, address, telephone number and email address, indicating any preferred method of communication;

4.1.2      If the Customer is being represented by a third party, the information set out in Section 4.1.1 should be provided in reference to both parties;

4.1.3      If the Complaint relates to a particular transaction, the invoice number;

4.1.4      If the Complaint relates to a particular employee or subcontractor, the name and, where appropriate, position of that employee or agent subcontractor;

4.1.5      Further details of the Complaint including, as appropriate, all times, dates, events, and people involved;

4.1.6      Details of any documents or other evidence on which the Customer wishes to rely in support of the Complaint;

4.1.7      Details of how the Customer would like Little Umbrella Events to resolve the Complaint.  Whilst we undertake to make all reasonable efforts to accommodate such requests, however, we are not bound to take any action beyond that which we may be contractually or otherwise legally obliged to take.

4.2            If the information detailed in Section 4.1 is missing, insufficiently detailed, or incomplete, Rebecca Shaw, Director should contact the Customer within 5 Business Days of receipt of the Complaint to request further information.

5.               Complaint Levels

5.1            Little Umbrella Events operates a one-stage complaints handling procedure.  Upon receipt, all new Complaints should be handled in accordance with the Level One procedure set out in Section 6 below.  It is our policy to use all reasonable endeavours to resolve all Complaints to Customers’ satisfaction at Level One.

5.2            If a Customer is not satisfied with the resolution of their Complaint at Level One, he/she has the option of referring the matter to an agreed mediator for External Resolution as detailed in Section 9 below.

6.               Level One Complaints

6.1            The following staff members are qualified and eligible Complaint Handlers for Level One Complaints:

Rebecca Shaw, Director, rebecca@littleumbrellaevents.co.uk;

6.2            Upon receipt of a Complaint, the Complaint Handler shall consider the Complaint and make a decision within 5 Business Days whether to:

6.2.1      Investigate the Complaint fully if it is considered to be valid, in which case the procedure should resume from Section 6.3; or

6.2.2      Dismiss the Complaint if it is considered to be invalid, in which case the Complaint Handler should inform the Customer of his/her decision in writing within 5 Business Days.

6.3            Subject to delays arising from circumstances beyond his/her reasonable control (including, but not limited to, delays in other persons responding to communications), the Complaint Handler shall have a period of 5 Business Days in which to fully investigate the Complaint and to decide upon appropriate Resolution Action(s).

6.4            If the Complaint relates to (a) particular employee(s) or subcontractor(s) (a “Complainee” or “Complainees”), the Complaint Handler shall inform the Complainee(s) in question of the Complaint and arrange meetings and/or telephone calls as required to discuss the Complaint.  In such cases, the Complainee(s) should not, under any circumstances, contact the Customer directly regarding the Complaint.  If the Customer contacts the Complainee(s) directly regarding the Complaint (which they are requested not to do in our Complaints Policy), the Complainee(s) should respectfully refuse to discuss the matter, referring the Customer to Section 5.2.3 of our Complaints Policy.  Any such contact should be reported to the Complaint Handler.

6.5            If the Complaint Handler requires additional information or evidence in support of the Complaint, the Complaint Handler shall contact the Customer using the Customer’s preferred method of communication, stating clearly what information or evidence is required.  Customers should be respectfully reminded that any delay in their response to such a request may delay the resolution of their Complaint, as per Section 5.2.4 of our Complaints Policy.

6.6            If a Customer is unable or unwilling to provide information or evidence requested under Section 6.5, the Complaint Handler must nevertheless use all reasonable endeavours to resolve the Complaint.  If, however, the Complaint Handler considers that it is not possible to uphold the Complaint in the absence of the requested information or evidence, he or she may close the Complaint and inform the Customer of the outcome in accordance with Sections 6.9 to 6.12.

6.7            The Complaint Handler shall examine and evaluate the Complaint, taking full account of all relevant statements, information, evidence and circumstances and shall maintain full objectivity and fairness at all times.

6.8            During the investigation of the Complaint, the Complaint Handler shall have access to all records, information, employees or subcontractors that may be necessary to enable him/her to carry out an impartial and thorough investigation.

6.9            Following his/her examination of the Complaint, the Complaint Handler shall reach a decision within the time period set out in Section 6.3 (subject to the exceptions noted therein).  Resolution Actions that may be chosen are set out in Section 8.

6.10        Upon reaching a decision under Section 6.9, the Complaint Handler shall send an Investigation Report and Decision Letter to the Customer by first class post or by email, as appropriate.  Decision Letters shall set out the decision, the Resolution Action(s), and shall remind the Customer of their right to escalate the Complaint.  The Investigation Report and Decision Letter should be held on file along with relevant information about the event in accordance with our privacy policy.

6.11        If a delay either occurs or is considered likely to occur at any stage of the Level One procedure, the Complaint Handler shall inform the Customer using the Customers preferred communication method.  The Customer should be informed of the length or likely length of the delay and the reasons therefor.

6.12        The Customer shall have a time limit of 5 Business Days within which to make an Appeal if he/she wishes to escalate the Complaint.

6.13        Upon receipt of an Appeal, the following steps should be taken within 5 Business Days by the Complaint Handler:

6.13.1   If a written Appeal is received by post, the Complaint Handler must confirm receipt of the letter to the Customer, log the details of the letter in their files and respond with a timescale and procedures for the Appeal.

6.13.2   If a written Appeal is received by email, the Complaint Handler must confirm receipt of the email to the Customer, log the details of the email in their files and respond with a timescale and procedures for the Appeal.

6.13.3   If an Appeal is made by telephone, the Complaint Handler must confirm the details of the complaint via email, log the details of communication and respond with a timescale and procedure for the Appeal in writing.

6.14        All Appeals must be acknowledged in writing within 5 Business Days of receipt by Rebecca Shaw, Director, details will be provided to the customer on how they can proceed with the involvement or an impartial, external mediator.

7.               External Resolution

7.1            An external mediator may require contact with employees or subcontractors of Little Umbrella Events and may require access to documents and information pertaining to a Complaint in the event that a Customer refers their Complaint for External Resolution.  Any and all such interactions between Little Umbrella Events and a mediator shall take place via:

Rebecca Shaw, Director, rebecca@littleumbrellaevents.co.uk

7.2            Any and all requests made by a mediator for evidence or information, whether written or oral, shall be answered without undue delay, subject to the approval and authorisation of Rebecca Shaw, Director, who shall ensure that said request is reasonable and pertinent given the nature of the Complaint.

8.               Implementation of Resolution Actions

Upon the conclusion of a Complaint, whether at Level One or by External Resolution the Resolution Action(s) settled upon shall require implementation in a timely manner.  Responsibility for the implementation of Resolution Actions ultimately lies with the following and may be delegated thereby, as appropriate:

8.1            Rebecca Shaw, Director, rebecca@littleumbrellaevents.co.uk

9.               Recording of Resolution Actions

9.1            Upon the conclusion of a Complaint and the implementation of the applicable Resolution Action(s), Rebecca Shaw, Director shall log all communications and agreed actions, these will be held on file along with details of the event in accordance with the privacy policy.

10.            Confidentiality and Data Protection

10.1        All Complaints, Appeals, evidence and other information gathered, held and processed under this Complaints Handling Procedure shall be treated with the utmost confidence at all times.  Such information may be shared with employees or subcontractors of Little Umbrella Events only to the extent required to resolve the Complaint in question in accordance with this Complaints Handling Procedure.

10.2        In the event that the details of a Complaint are to be used for training or quality improvement purposes, in which case they will be shared with other employees or subcontractors of Little Umbrella Events beyond the scope of this Complaints Handling Procedure, the relevant Customer’s express permission must first be sought using that Customer’s preferred contact method.  Personal details (that is, anything that may be used to identify the Customer) shall be removed from all information so used.  Such permission may be revoked at any time in accordance with the Customer’s right to do so under Section 6.2 of our Customer Complaints Policy.

10.3        All personal information collected by Little Umbrella Events (including, but not limited to, Customers’ names and contact details) shall only be collected, used and held in accordance with the provisions of UK data protection law (including but not limited to the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003) and Customers’ rights thereunder, as set out in our Privacy Policy available from https://www.littleumbrellaevents.co.uk/privacy-policy

11.            Procedure Review and Responsibility

11.1        Overall responsibility for this Complaints Handling Procedure and the implementation thereof lies with Rebecca Shaw, Director.

11.2        This Complaints Handling Procedure shall be reviewed regularly at intervals of not more than 5 years and shall be updated as required.

11.3        This Complaints Handling Procedure was adopted on 9 July 2023.

11.4        This Complaints Handling Procedure was last reviewed on 11 November 2025.