Introduction

We are fully committed to providing an exceptional service and our aim is to ensure that access to our service is consistent, straightforward and user-friendly. If you have a disability, we recognise that we must make reasonable adjustments in the way that we work with and provide our services to you, if you would otherwise be disadvantaged when using our service.

 

This policy applies to everyone who uses our service. It does not attempt to cover how we would deal with every situation, but it does set out:

• some of the basic principles of our legal duty to provide reasonable adjustments;

• how we may make reasonable adjustments to our services; and

• how to make a reasonable adjustment request and our response to such a request.

 

What is a reasonable adjustment?

A reasonable adjustment involves changing the way we work to remove or reduce any disadvantages you face when accessing our service if you have a disability. For example, we may agree to only communicate with you by email or telephone rather than ‘hard copy’ letters.

 

Our legal duties

The Equality Act 2010 requires us to provide reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability, defined as those with a ‘physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.’

 

We have duty to make reasonable adjustments if the way we deliver our service puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage compared to a person who does not have a disability. We are required to consider carefully the measures which people may reasonably need with the aim of making our service easily accessible for everyone, particularly those with a disability.

 

Examples of adjustments we can make

There are some adjustments that we can offer routinely and others which we may have to tailor to an individual’s specific needs.  Examples of routine adjustments include:

• providing additional time for you to provide further information or reply to correspondence;

• providing documents or correspondence to you in larger text;

• providing documents on coloured paper or with a specific colour contrast;

• speaking clearly to you and offering more time to cover the issues you need to discuss;

• using a preferred communication method to best suit your needs;

• communicating with you through a representative approved by you, if you wish;

• using plain English appropriate to the person we are dealing with and avoiding jargon;

• providing you with access to ‘Easy Read’ versions of our key documents; and

• arranging for a single point of contact when you use our service.

 

Making a reasonable adjustment request

When you contact us to access our service, we will ask you if you think we need to make any adjustment to our service on account of your disability. You can make a request at any stage of our contact with you, and a request can be made in writing or by telephone. We will not make any assumption about whether you need any adjustments or about what those adjustments should be. We will discuss your requirements with you and try to reach an agreement on what is reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances. We may also suggest adjustments if we find it might be helpful for you to use our service.

 

As well as providing information in written and telephone correspondence, you can also find information about the adjustments we can make across our service documentation, including in the accessibility statement published on our website, on our complaint registration form, in our complaint acknowledgment information and in this policy.

 

We will usually be able to agree and provide reasonable adjustments quickly, although there may be some instances where we will need some more time to consider the request carefully.  When considering your request, we will take the following factors into account:

• how effective the adjustment would be in reducing or preventing any disadvantage;

• how practical it is for us to make the adjustment;

• the cost and availability of resource (including external resources); and

• how much the adjustment would disrupt our activities.

 

We will always do our best to agree with you beforehand the reasonable adjustments that we are able to make and make it clear when it may not be possible to make an adjustment.

 

Monitoring, feedback and complaints

We will keep a record of the adjustments we have made and monitor their success. We will use this information to review our services periodically to identify any areas for improvements.

 

We are committed to providing a high standard of service and dealing with everyone fairly. If you are not satisfied with the arrangements, we have made for providing reasonable adjustments, or would like to provide feedback about an adjustment made, please use the contact details below:

 

• Email: adjustments@hro.org.uk

• Telephone: 020 7981 0850

• Address: Home Renewables Ombudsman, York House, 23 Kingsway, London, WC2B 6UJ.