Making a complaint
Life isn’t perfect, and things do sometimes go wrong. Understanding how to make a complaint is useful – even if you never need to.
What happens when things go wrong?
Hopefully you won’t have any problems. But if you’re not happy with the way you or your money have been treated, then you can make a complaint.
- If you have any concerns regarding your financial services product, banking, insurance, annuity etc. you should first contact the business in order to give them the opportunity to put things right.
- If they’re not able to resolve your concerns within the first few days, they’ll send you a letter to acknowledge them. You should receive this within a reasonable time and in most cases within five working days. They should also send you details of their complaints procedure.
- The business should keep you up to date with the progress of your complaint at regular intervals. They have eight weeks in total to try to resolve your complaint.
- If by eight weeks they’ve not been able to resolve your concerns, or if you’ve received a final response and you’re not happy with the outcome, you’re now able to take your concerns to the Financial Ombudsman Service. In the majority of cases, you’ll have up to six months from the date of your final response or the eight week letter to refer the matter to them. For full clarification of timescales, please refer to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
We follow a similar process and we have a dedicated team who co-ordinate and deal with all complaints received. To find out more about our complaints process, please read our FAQ 'How do I make a complaint?'
The Financial Ombudsman
The Financial Ombudsman Service were set up by law to provide consumers with a free, independent service for resolving disputes with financial firms.
The Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR
0800 023 4567
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
How much will it cost me to take my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service?
Nothing, as mentioned above this is a free service to consumers.
Do I need to use a claims company to make a complaint?
No, they’ll charge a fee and you can do exactly what they’ll do for you for free.
How do I make a complaint against a business if they are no longer trading?
Contact the Financial Ombudsman Service in the first instance and they’ll let you know if they’re able to help. If the company you wish to make a complaint against were regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) you may be able to make a claim through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The Financial Ombudsman Service would be happy to refer your complaint to them if you agree to this.
