How to complain

You can complain to us if you think a dispenser or a company selling hearing aids might not be acting appropriately. All dispensers and employers must meet certain standards of training and conduct. We will investigate your complaint and if we find that a registrant has not met our standards then we can admonish them, force them to take extra training, fine them or strike them off.

Every person and company selling hearing aids must register with us or they are breaking the law. If you suspect someone is selling hearing aids illegally then you can also complain to us. If you are a registered dispenser or employer then our Code of Practice sets out your duty to report reasonable concerns.

Sometimes people complain about issues we cannot investigate. In these cases we may pass the complaint on to another body who can, such as the police or Office of Fair Trading. If you make a complaint we will always let you know what is happening.

Making a complaint

We can only investigate complaints if you send them to us in writing. If you would like to speak to us beforehand or at any other time then you can always call our office on 020 3102 4030. If you decide you would like to complain then you should write and tell us that you would like to complain and your contact details. If you prefer, someone else can write on your behalf. If you have trouble writing then please call us and let us know. You do not have to buy a hearing aid to complain. Anyone can make a complaint to us.

We will contact you no matter what you write but, if you are able, then the more information you can give us in the first letter the better. In particular, if you can:

What happens next?

We consider every complaint. We will let you know that we have received your complaint and what will happen next. We will let the dispenser and employer involved know that someone has made a complaint about them. Once we have gathered enough evidence we will ask our Investigating Committee to consider your complaint. If the Investigating Committee thinks it is a serious complaint and we have the power to deal with it then they can refer it to our Disciplinary Committee. The Disciplinary Committee decides what action to take against the dispenser or employer. If the Disciplinary Committee decides the defendant is guilty it can admonish them, fine them, make them do extra training or strike them off the register. Sometimes if we think a complaint is serious but we do not have the power to deal with it ourselves then we will refer to someone who does, such as the police or the Office of Fair Trading.

Our contact details

To make a complaint or find out more please contact us.

Our address is:

The Hearing Aid Council
70 St Mary Axe
London
EC3A 8BD

And our telephone number and email address are:

Telephone: 020 3102 4030
Fax: 020 3102 4476
Email:

To read about recent Disciplinary Cases against our registrants please click here.