1. Introduction
We always aim for the highest fundraising standards and to provide you with the best service possible. Unfortunately, sometimes things go wrong and when they do, we want to know. We welcome complaints about our fundraising and third parties acting on our behalf in the fundraising process. Telling us about your experience gives us the chance to put things right and make improvements.
2. Contact us
We want to sort things out for you as soon as we can. The easiest and quickest way is by talking to our dedicated complaints team on 0345 845 1945.
We can help you quicker on the phone but we recognise that this may not be your preferred choice, so you can also email us at with fundraisingcomplaints@britishlegion.org.uk or write to us at: The Royal British Legion, Haig House, 199 Borough High Street, London SE1 1AA
Email is not a secure communication medium so please avoid detailed personal information.
3. What we need from you
Please provide us with as much information as possible when making your complaint. This will help us to understand the issue and resolve it quickly. Please include:
- Your name and address
- Your supporter number, if you have one. You can usually find this near the top of the letter if we have written to you recently
- A description of your complaint and how it’s affected you
- When the issue happened
- A contact number (or other preferred method of contact) and a convenient time to contact you.
Why do we need this information?
This is to make sure the right person handles your complaint so they can investigate and fix the situation as soon as possible. Your contact details will help us reach you if we need to discuss your complaint, especially if we need more information. We will always try to call you back at an agreed time. Please note that calls from us will appear as our general Supporter Care line 0345 845 1945.
4. What we'll do
We'll record your complaint and do everything we can to resolve it quickly:
- We'll get in touch with you to discuss your complaint.
- We will try to agree the resolution to the problem at that point.
- Please be aware that our call will appear as 0345 845 1945, rather than the 4565 complaints line
For more complex issues, we may need more time to investigate your concerns. If this is the case:
- We'll send you an acknowledgement letter outlining the next steps and when you can expect to hear from us.
- We'll give you the name of the person handling your complaint and a contact number if you need to contact us.
- If necessary, we will contact you for more information using your preferred method of contact.
- If the investigation is likely to take longer than two weeks, we'll keep you updated of our progress throughout our investigation.
Our response
Once we've completed our investigation, we'll send you a Response Letter. This will outline the details of the investigation, how we reached our decision and what we propose to do to put things right. It will also provide information about what to do if you disagree with our response.
Appeal and escalation
We strive to do things the right way first time. However, if you don’t agree with our response, you may appeal and we will ask our Director of Fundraising to take a look and make sure your complaint has been resolved fairly.
Just contact our complaints team again on 0345 845 1945, by email to with fundraisingcomplaints@britishlegion.org.uk or by post to: Head of Supporter Services, Royal British Legion, Haig House, 199 Borough High Street, London SE1 1AA
When we hear from you, we will send your request to the Director of Fundraising who will ensure there is a review of your complaint by senior staff.
Once your independent review has been completed, we’ll send you a Final Response Letter with our resolution.
If you disagree with the Final Response Letter you can escalate the complaint to the Fundraising Regulator. If your complaint is about a lottery or raffle you can escalate the complaint to the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS). We talk about these processes in Section 8 below.
5. Timescales
We aim to resolve all complaints as quickly as possible but sometimes resolution may take a while, especially if we need to undertake an investigation.
If we can resolve your complaint over the phone then that’s what we’ll do.
If your complaint requires a Response Letter, we will send that as soon as we can. If it’s likely to take a few days to investigate your complaint then we’ll send an acknowledgement as soon as possible, usually within two business days.
In our experience, most investigations can be completed within 14 days, after which we will send you a Response Letter. If we can’t meet this deadline we’ll send you an update indicating when we are likely to resolve your complaint. Where we need more time, we will continue to send regular updates until your complaint has been resolved.
6. Putting things right
We will usually ask you for your agreement before we implement any remedial action. If we agree that action is required to put things right we will take that action without delay or explain why we can’t do that.
7. If you've already complained
If you need an update on a complaint you’ve already made please contact your complaint handler. Their name and contact details are included in the acknowledgement letter.
8. The regulator
If you disagree with our response to your complaint you can contact the Independent Betting Adjudication Service. You can also refer your complaint to the Gambling Commission.
The Independent Betting Adjudication Service
Following a referral to the IBAS we will respond to their requests promptly and we will do what we can to ensure a fair outcome. At this point in the process we will usually engage directly with IBAS.
We’ll give you their details when we send our Response Letter but, for reference, you can get in touch with them in the following ways:
Post: Independent Betting Adjudication Service Ltd, PO BOX 62639, London EC3P 3AS
Telephone: 020 7347 5883
Online: IBAS website