Remedy classification: making complaint outcomes clearer and more consistent

When a complaint is upheld, reaching the right decision is only part of the job. The action that follows needs to be just as clear.

That action is known as a remedy: what a business is required to do to put things right for the consumer. This could include applying a credit or payment, correcting a bill, taking action on a meter or providing an apology.

At Trust Alliance Group, we have been looking at how those remedies can be made clearer, more consistent and easier to act on for everyone involved, providing more clarity for suppliers and providers, consumers and the wider sector.

Moving away from freehand wording

Historically, remedies were written individually by case handlers. While the remedy itself might be the same category, the way it was described could vary from one decision to another.

That could create unnecessary differences in wording, make it harder for businesses to build consistent processes around the actions they were being asked to take, and limit our ability to understand wider patterns across the remedies being awarded.

To address this, Energy Ombudsman has introduced a more structured approach to creating remedies within our Dispute Resolution Platform.

A clearer way to create remedies

Instead of writing every remedy individually, case handlers can now select the appropriate remedy type from a set of agreed options and add the details that are specific to the individual complaint.

The platform then brings those details together into clear and consistent wording for the final decision.

Importantly, this does not replace the judgement of the person handling the complaint. Case handlers still consider the evidence and decide what the appropriate outcome should be. The change is about making the way that outcome is recorded and communicated more consistent.

Why does that matter?

For consumers, clearer remedies make it easier to understand exactly what has been decided and what should happen next.

For businesses, more consistent wording makes the required action easier to recognise and implement, helping to reduce unnecessary questions or delays.

And for our case handlers, it means more time can be focused on assessing the evidence and reaching the right outcome, rather than repeatedly drafting similar instructions in different ways.

There is also a wider benefit.

Because remedies now sit within defined categories, the information can be counted and compared rather than existing only within individual paragraphs of text. This gives us a clearer picture of the types of outcomes being awarded, their value and where patterns may be emerging.

That insight can help us better understand the problems consumers are experiencing and strengthen the evidence we are able to share with businesses, regulators and other stakeholders.

Using insight to improve how complaints are resolved

Remedy classification is one example of how we are continuing to improve the way complaints are handled and resolved.

The technology behind it is important, but the purpose is much simpler: clearer outcomes, better information and a more consistent experience for the consumers and businesses using our services.

By turning information that was previously written in different ways into something more structured and useful, we can improve individual complaint outcomes while building a stronger understanding of the issues affecting consumers more widely.

That supports our wider purpose at Trust Alliance Group: helping to build, maintain and restore trust between consumers and businesses.