Code of Practice

Code of Practice
Including our Code of Practice for Premium Rate Services and NTS calls

Part 1 – Fidelity Group Code of Practice for Business Customers

Introduction to our company and services

Fidelity Group is an independent company that delivers communications services to domestic and business customers in the UK. While we may not provide all the component parts of our services ourselves, we do take responsibility for the services delivered to you. We will liaise with our suppliers to ensure that any problems with their services are resolved promptly.

Purpose of this Code of Practice

This code informs you about our products, services, customer-care policies and where to find information about our charges and terms and conditions. This Code of Practice is published on our website at www.fidelity-group.co.uk. Additional copies are available on request and free of charge to any domestic and small business customer.

How to contact us

Please contact our Customer Support Team:

By phone: 0800 840 6800 or 0333 323 0404
8.30 am – 5.30 pm Monday-Friday, excluding bank holidays

By email: support@fidelity-group.co.uk

By fax: 0800 840 6801

By letter: Fidelity Group Ltd, 14 Station Road, Unit 9 The Hub, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, RG9 1AY Website: www.fidelity-group.co.uk

Our commitment to you

We are committed to giving you the highest quality of customer service. When we purchase our services from wholesale providers, we choose those providers carefully to ensure that you get a high-quality service. We make every reasonable effort to supply services that satisfy your requirements. We work to all relevant laws and regulations.

Our products and services

Landline telephones
Landline calls
CPS – Carrier Pre-Selection
WLR – Wholesale Line Rental
ISDN – digital telephone lines
Broadband access
VoIP & IP telephony services
Non-geographic numbers
Intelligent Call Routing
Internet
Mobile telephone and data services
Equipment and maintenance service

For more details on any of our products and services, or to place an order immediately, please contact our Customer Support Team on 0800 840 6800.

You may also purchase our services from local dealers around the UK. For more information, please contact the Customer Support Team on 0800 840 6800 or see our website www.fidelity-group.co.uk

Marketing

We work to the principles in the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing, which are set out on the website www.cap.org.uk.

Terms and conditions

When you subscribe to a service from Fidelity Group, we will send you our Standard Terms and Conditions and ask you to sign a contract, if applicable. If you have any questions, please phone our Customer Support Team on 0800 840 6800. We may carry out a credit check as part of our assessment procedures.

Where applicable the minimum contract term for our services will be 24 months. We aim to provide services as soon as possible following your original request, subject to the availability and installation of any equipment and, where appropriate, lines to your premises. If we need to carry out a survey of your premises or lay additional cabling, we will inform you of the revised timescales as soon as we can.

Cancellation

If you decide to cancel your order or agreement before we have provided the services, you may do so without charge within ten working days of your order being placed. For cancellations after ten working days we may charge you an administration fee as set out in your contract. If you wish to terminate your contract within the minimum term, please call our Customer Service Team on 0800 840 6800. We will charge you a fee as set out in your contract. After the minimum term, you can cancel any service by calling our Customer Service Team on 0800 840 6800, giving us notice within the contractual terms.

Faults and repairs

Please call our Customer Support Team on 0800 840 6800 if you experience a fault with any of our services. We aim to have this investigated and repaired as soon as possible. Customer Support will advise on timeframe.

Compensation and refund policy

Our policy is to assess each claim on a case by case basis. We aim to investigate any claims and respond to them in ten working days. Any refunds that are due will be credited to the next month’s invoice (or set out your own policy, if different).

Price lists

Our pricing structure is available from our Customer Support Team on 0800 840 6800.

Billing

We will bill you monthly.

We only accept payment via direct debit as agreed at the start of your contract. If you wish to change your method of payment at any time, please call our Customer Support Team on 0800 840 6800.

We provide itemised bills as part of our service to you.

If you have difficulty paying your bill, please contact us on 0800 840 6800 and we will try to arrange a different method of payment. We will do all we can to help our small business customers to manage their bills and avoid disconnection. In any event, you will be given 48 hours notice of any decision to disconnect your services.

If you are moving home or office

Please call Customer Support Team on 0800 840 6800 no later than 28 days before your move date. We will amend your account and billing requirements as necessary. We will endeavour to offer you the same telephone number to minimise disruption but please not that for geographic numbers this may not always be possible.

Number porting

Fidelity Group recognise that keeping your existing telephone numbers may be important to you. If you move your business to us and wish to keep the number that you have with your old provider, we will arrange it if you ask us. We will work with you to ensure that the services are switched over at a convenient and appropriate time. For more information, please call our Customer Support Team on 0800 840 6800.

Directory Entries

You are entitled to a Directory Entry listing (including an entry in the Phone Book) for both your fixed and mobile telephone numbers. If you do want your details included, please contact our Customer Support Team on 0800 840 6800.

Complaints

We make every effort to ensure that our customers are happy with the level of service, and the products and service they receive from us. However, despite our best efforts, things can go wrong. We take customer complaints very seriously and aim to resolve them quickly and efficiently.

Our Code of Practice on Complaint Handling and Dispute Resolution explains how customers can complain. The code also provides information on how we deal with complaints and your right to take unresolved complaints to Alternative Dispute Resolution. You can find a copy of our Complaints Code on our website at www.fidelity-group.co.uk. Alternatively, copies are available free of charge and on request from our Customer Support Team on 0800 840 6800.

Services for people with special needs

We are committed to helping all our customers to communicate easily. We offer the following additional services on request for customers who are older or who may have a disability, including:

Priority access to the Customer Support Team
Additional help and support if you have difficulty paying your bill
Copies of bills in large print for customers who have difficulty reading their bill

Copies of this Code are available in larger print and other formats on request.
Data protection

We comply fully with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Part 2 – Code of Practice for Premium Rate Service and Number Translation Service Calls

Purpose of this Code of Practice

This code informs you, our small business customers, about our policies on providing information about Premium Rate Service (PRS) and Number Translation Service (NTS) calls and on our charging policy for calls to PRS and NTS numbers.

Premium rate services

Premium rate services (PRS) are telephone numbers that offer some form of information or entertainment that is charged to your phone bill. UK-based PRS numbers are normally prefixed by “09” or “118”. Numbers starting 087 are also designated as Premium Rate numbers and subject to PRS regulation when they cost 7p per minute or more. Typical services include TV votelines, mobile ringtone downloads, technical helplines, charity fund-raising and adult entertainment.

Charges for these services are made up of two parts, a service charge and an access charge and the total is added to your telephone bill. You will see the service charge advertised by the company providing the service alongside the number and this can be between 7p and £3 per minute, or £5 per call or per text (excl. vat). The access charge is kept by us, your phone company. Our access charge for calling these services is shown in our price list, which is available on request from our Customer Services Team and via our website.

If you have a problem with PRS, we can help. We can provide advice on checking the telephone number of any PRS charges that appear on your bill and will try to help you identify the premium rate service provider. We can use call barring to restrict access to “09” numbers. Please call our Customer Support Team on 0800 840 6800 for advice on this. We can give you a factsheet on PRS.

You can also ask for help from Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) which is the industry-funded regulatory body for Premium Rate Services. PSA operates a Code of Practice that sets out standards for the operation of PRS. You can use the PSA website at www.psauthority.org.uk to check PRS numbers direct and find contact details for the company in question or to submit a complaint. PSA has legal powers to require a provider of PRS to amend its service or promotional material (or both) and can also order refunds and impose penalties on service providers for breaches of the PSA Code. For other ways to contact Phone-paid Services Authority, see the “Useful addresses” section below.

Number translation services

Number translation services (NTS) are based on numbers that are normally prefixed “08”. For example, 0800 and 0808 are used to provide freephone services (some freephone services are also provided on 0500 numbers). Numbers starting 084 are normally used for customer service helplines. 087 numbers are used for information services, technical helplines and telephone banking. They are also used by organisations to help them provide call-management features such as intelligent call routing and fax-to-email services. Numbers starting 087 are also designated as Premium Rate numbers and subject to PRS regulation when they cost 7p per minute or more. Personal numbers prefixed 070 are also used for providing NTS such as “follow me” type services.

Charges for calling services on NTS numbers are made up of two parts, a service charge and an access charge and the total is added to your telephone bill. You will see the service charge advertised by the company providing the service alongside the number and this can range from free up to 10.8p per minute or per call (excl. vat). The access charge is kept by us, your phone company. Our access charge for calling these services is shown in our price list, which is available on request from our Customer Services Team and via our website. We can also give you a factsheet on NTS.

If you are unhappy with the help you have received from us on a problem with PRS or NTS, please contact our legal team at legal@fidelity-group.co.uk, who has responsibility for compliance with our code of practice for PRS and NTS. You may also complain using the complaints procedure set out in our complaints code including, ultimately, referring your complaint to The Communications Ombudsman.

Internet diallers

If you use the Internet, it is possible for software to be placed on your computer without you knowing – using the same methods as for computer viruses. This type of software (known as Internet or rogue diallers) can then make calls to PRS and NTS numbers without your knowledge. Software is available to detect this activity and we can help you to access this – please contact our Customer Services Team for details. Phone-paid Services Authority has been given responsibility for policing this type of activity and you can contact them via www.psauthority.org.uk to ask for help or to report examples of this type of abuse. For other ways to contact Phone-paid Services Authority, see the “Useful addresses” section below. We can also help by barring calls to 09 numbers.

The Telephone Preference Service

If you don’t want to get sales and marketing calls you have not requested, you can add your details to a list run by the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). If your number is on the list, it is illegal for a company to call you for marketing purposes. You can contact the Telephone Preference Service via www.tpsonline.org.uk or by telephoning 0845 070 0707.

Useful addresses

The Ombudsman Services – Communications – PO Box 730, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 6WU. Tel: 0330 440 1614 Fax: 0330 440 1615 email: enquiries@os-communications.org Website: www.ombudsman-services.org

Ofcom – Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HA. Tel: 020 7981 3040 or 0300 123 3333 email: contact@ofcom.org.uk Website: www.ofcom.org.uk

Phone-paid Services Authority – 40 Bank Street London E14 5NR. Tel: 0800 500 212 or 020 7940 7474 Website: www.psauthority.org.uk email info@psauthority.org.uk

Telephone Preference Service – DMA House, 70 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SS Tel: 0845 070 0707 Website: www.tpsonline.org.uk

Federation of Communication Services (FCS) – Provident House, Burrell Row, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1AT. Tel: 020 7186 5432 email: fcs@fcs.org.uk Website: www.fcs.org.uk

This code has been licensed by The Federation of Communication Services Limited 2016 Licence number 002714

Code of Practice on Complaint Handling and Dispute Resolution

Fidelity Group is an independent company that delivers communications services to business customers in the UK. While we may not provide all the component parts of our services ourselves, we do take responsibility for the services delivered to you. We will liaise with our suppliers to ensure that any problems with their services are resolved promptly.

If you have a complaint about any part of our service, please contact our Customer Support Team using one of the following.

By phone: 0800 840 6800 or 0333 323 0404

By email: support@fidelity-group.co.uk

By letter: Unit 9, The Hub, 14 Station Road, Henley-on-Thames, RG9, 1AY

If you telephone, our advisors will ask you about your complaint and seek to resolve the problem while you are on the line. During any discussions, we will protect the privacy of the information that we hold on you. To do this we may have to ask you questions to confirm that we are speaking to the right person.

If you make your complaint by email or in writing, we will acknowledge receipt, advise how and when we will next respond and provide you with a contact point for checking progress on the resolution of your complaint.

We will try to resolve your complaint quickly and efficiently, and to keep you informed at all times. We normally aim to resolve complaints within 10 working days but, depending on the nature of the complaint, this is not always possible. However, if you are not happy with progress in resolving your complaint you can ask the person to whom you are speaking to escalate the matter to their manager, and ultimately to the Managing Director. If we cannot resolve the problem, we will write to you to say so.

If it has been more than 8 weeks from the date you first contacted us to complain or you have received a letter from us saying that your complaint has reached “deadlock”, then you may ask for help from the Ombudsman Services as detailed below.

Ombudsman Services – Communications – PO Box 730, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 6WU. Tel: 0330 440 1614 Fax: 0330 440 1615 email: enquiries@os-communications.org Website: www.ombudsman-services.org

Cisas– 70 Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 1EU, Tel: 0845 1308 170 or 0207 520 3827 e-mail: info@cisas.org.uk Website: www.cisas.org.uk

Ombudsman Services is an independent organisation which is approved by Ofcom to provide an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service. Ofcom-approved ADR services sort out disputes between communications providers and their consumer and small business customers. Their job is to investigate complaints fairly by listening to both sides of the story. They look at the facts given to them before recommending any action that may be needed to put things right.

Alternatively, if at any time you are not satisfied with the progress of your complaint you can ask us to agree an early referral to ADR (i.e. that we issue a deadlock letter). However, we may decline to do so if we do believe we will shortly resolve your complaint and are taking active steps to do so.

Useful addresses

Ombudsman Services – Communications – PO Box 730, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 6WU. Tel: 0330 440 1614 Fax: 0330 440 1615 email: enquiries@os-communications.org Website: www.ombudsman-services.org

Ofcom – Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HA. Tel: 020 7981 3040 or 0300 123 3333 email: contact@ofcom.org.uk Website: www.ofcom.org.uk

Phone-paid Services Authority – 40 Bank Street, London E14 5NR. Tel: 0800 500 212 or 020 7940 7474 Website: www.psauthority.org.uk email info@psauthority.org.uk

Telephone Preference Service – DMA House, 70 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SS Tel: 0845 070 0707 Website: www.tpsonline.org.uk

Federation of Communication Services (FCS) – Provident House, Burrell Row, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1AT. Tel: 020 7186 5432 email: fcs@fcs.org.uk Website: www.fcs.org.uk

This code has been licensed by The Federation of Communication Services Limited 2016 Licence number C-002714

Fidelity Group Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement

who we are

Fidelity Group is proud to be a business with a commercial mind and a customer-centric heart. Fidelity Group designs, implements and manages strategic communications for business. We want to demonstrate our commitment to helping our customers and their communities to thrive and have the best possible chances of enjoying prosperous and healthy futures.

Our mission, values and behaviours

Our Values and Behaviours, of Loyalty, Trust, Delivery, embedded in everything we do, define how we operate at Fidelity Group. Our Values describe the way we work and the ‘contract’ between us, our customers, stakeholders and partners. They underpin everything that we do, and we work with our staff and colleagues to weave them into the fabric of our organisation and working practices.

Our approach to combatting modern slavery and human trafficking is in keeping with our mission and values as well as meeting our legal and regulatory duties. We recognise the detrimental effect Modern Slavery has on global society and we are committed to playing our role in combatting it.

Our people/work practices

We are committed to being an employer of choice and this is reflected in our values. We are proud to provide a safe place to work with terms and conditions that meet or exceed minimum legal requirements.

Our customers and communities

We are committed to our responsibilities in safeguarding children and adults at risk. We want all of our staff and contractors to be alert to the signs of abuse and neglect, including modern slavery and human trafficking offences. We also recognise the importance of our customers and communities being alert to potential offences as a key part of tackling slavery. In 2017 and beyond we will:

– Raise awareness with our staff and customers around modern slavery and human trafficking offences so our people are alert to potential offences and know how to respond; and

– Develop training for all of our staff and volunteers on Modern Slavery.

Our supply chain

At Fidelity Group, we are committed to ethical procurement. As part of this, we are committed to ensuring our supply chain is free from modern slavery. In 2017 we will:

Communicate our anti-slavery stance to all existing suppliers
Update our procurement procedures and standard contract terms to reflect our anti-slavery stance
Develop an assurance scheme so we can check the anti-slavery initiatives implemented by our suppliers
Train our contract managers so they are alert to potential risks and can react quickly and appropriately
Fully investigate any alleged activity that is inconsistent with our anti-slavery stance; and
Where an unacceptable practice is found, we will work with the supplier to remedy this. Where the breach is severe or not remedied in an appropriate timeframe, we will seek to terminate our relationship with that supplier.

Our policies

Our policy environment supports our anti-slavery stance. Key policies include:

Our Whistleblowing policy which enables staff to report any concerns they have
Our HR policies which create an environment in which staff rights and dignity are respected
Our Health and Safety policies which set out our position on ensuring a safe workplace; and
Our tenancy management policies which set out the action to be taken where our properties are used for unlawful purposes.

This statement is made under section 54 (1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and reflects the Fidelity Group position on Modern Slavery for the 2016/17 financial year. This statement covers Fidelity Group Ltd and all legal entities that form part of it.