Need help writing an effective 'second stage' letter of complaint

[bunjies]

Having reached an impasse with the fob the customer off services department of an insurance company I need to take my complaint further, however, I don't know the best way of doing this. When I search on the internet for letters of complaint the results all deal with 'first stage' letters. My problem is that my initial letter has not resolved the issue and, in fact, things have got worse

Does anyone have any experience of having pursued a complaint beyond the initial stages? Can you give me any advice about what you said/did? My problem is further exacerbated by the fact I live in France and am dealing with a French insurer! I could really do with some advice as I am currently 400? out of pocket .

I was going to say you could write to the insurance ombudsman now seeing as your first complaint hasn't resolved the matter but I've no idea about the system in France.

Doesn't the insurance company have a complaints procedure?

Yes I have, although with an English company, so not sure what to advice.

Basically, I wrote to the Cheif personally, explained the problem, what I had done about it and the response I got and then what I wanted to put things right. I kept it all neutral just stating the facts.

I ended by saying that that if he/she couldn't/wouldn't resolve this, to provide details of the ombudsman service they adhere to so that I could take my complaint further.

depending on the issue, it might be worth finding out what your rights are, for example sale of goods act eqivalent etc.

hope this helps

ps, send recorded delivery and give a time fram for response, such as a specific date or 3 weeks from date of letter.

You could also consider whether asking for relevant info under freedom of info/data protection might be useful if there is a french equivalent

Thanks for the replies.

If I don't get anywhere I will definately be finding out if there is such a thing as an ombudsman or regulatory body over here.

Joyfulspike - I'm presuming you had a successful outcome to your complaint. Was it your first letter to them or had you already been fobbed off previously?