NFU Mutual's Unacceptable Customer Behaviour Approach

At NFU Mutual, we aim to be a great company to do business with and support our customers when they need us most. We also strive to be a great place to work, which includes protecting the best interests of our people. We welcome feedback and always aim to be as open and accessible as possible. 

On the occasion that a customer’s (or anyone acting on their behalf) behaviour is deemed to be unreasonable or unacceptable (vexatious), we want to ensure our people feel confident and empowered to act. This approach sets out what we consider to be unacceptable behaviour and confirms the actions we may take if it is felt that an individual’s behaviour has exceeded what we consider to be acceptable.   

Being a mutual means, we are owned by and run for our members. We therefore have a duty to act in the best interest of all members and so undue disruption ultimately impacts others. When applying this approach, individuals will be treated consistently, honestly and proportionately whilst ensuring that others suffer no detriment.  

Prior to decisions being made under this approach thorough investigations will take place, considering each customer’s individual circumstances, including any additional needs they may have. It is noted that some individuals may react differently when anxious or distressed and we must ensure we recognise this and make reasonable adjustments where appropriate. However, this does not negate our expectations around appropriate customer contact, and we do not expect staff to tolerate unreasonable or unacceptable (vexatious) behaviour.  If a decision is made to act, we will clearly communicate our reasons why.  

This approach applies to: 

• all areas of our work 
• anyone who contacts us, including existing or potential customers (or anyone acting on their behalf), representatives, and businesses.
• all methods of contact whether this be telephone, face-to-face, letters, e-mails, social media and other digital channels

Definitions that apply to this approach:

It is important we distinguish between individuals who contact us / raise complaints regularly but for genuine reasons such as a failure in service and those who continue contacting us, as they are unable or unwilling to accept a decision. 

For awareness, we use the following two terms in our approach:

• Unreasonable behaviour is conduct that is deemed unreasonably persistent in frequency and nature and/or continually deviates from our internal procedures, despite warning from NFU Mutual staff. This frequency of contact is seen to harass and/or hinder our ability to service the genuine needs of other individuals, members or complainants and therefore disrupts our ability to carry out our daily activities as a firm. The behaviour may also suggest that there is now an irreparable breakdown in the relationship between the individual and NFU Mutual and their insurance needs may be better met elsewhere.
• Unacceptable (Vexatious) behaviour from an individual is conduct that could cause undue distress and intimidation to staff, harassment despite continued warnings and is deemed as behaviour that is vexatious without justified reasons. 

Examples of these types of behaviour may include, but are not limited to: 

• Abusive and derogatory language: Continued use of profanity or using an employee’s sex, gender, race, religion, ethnicity, regional accent or sexuality in an inappropriate and/or discriminatory way. 
• Threats or intimidation: Verbal, physical or sexual threats against employees.
• Harassment: Repeated contact demands on matters already resolved, or other forms of harassment which may be deemed to be excessive contact which impacts our ability to provide service to others. This may also include repeated and unnecessary visits to our offices without a prior appointment and demanding to be seen.
• Disruption of service: Behaviours that delay or interfere with normal processing of claims or services. Examples may include but are not limited to insisting on a response within an unacceptable timeframe, insisting on speaking to a particular employee when not available and refusing to co-operate or clarify issues necessary to allow us to rectify a complaint.
• Continued contact: Frequent and persistent contact with us or directed at an employee when we’ve explicitly requested the customer not to act in this way.
• Social Media Content: We want our social media channels to continue to be a safe place for all users.  Information on what is deemed unacceptable behaviour by NFU Mutual, when posting directly on our channels, can be found in our Social Media Community Guidelines.

Actions we may take: 

Action may be taken if NFU Mutual deem a customer to be acting unreasonably or unacceptably (vexatiously), following an investigation. Whilst not exhaustive, the list below provides some of the actions we may need to take in these circumstances: 

• Stop communicating directly with the individual via a specific communication method. This may result in us only communicating in writing, either via emails or solely by letter sent by post.
• Restrict all communication with the individual on a specific matter or topic.
• With the individual’s consent, communicate with them through a representative or third party such as a relative, friend or community advocate.
• Restrict the individual’s ability to enter our offices without an invitation.
• Termination of a policy (mid-term or at renewal). 

In circumstances where behaviour is seen to be extreme or severe and threatens the immediate safety and welfare of staff, we will consider other options. This may include reporting the matter to the police or emergency services or taking legal action. In such cases, we may not give the individual prior warning of that action.