Complain to the FSA

[Never-In-Doubt]

Complain to the FSA

There are three steps you can take if you want to make a complaint about your bank, insurance, mortgage or other financial services company. Here we explain how.

1. Contact the firm directly
Contact the firm directly as soon as possible. Firms regulated must investigate your complaint and reply to you within eight weeks. You can contact the firm yourself; get free advice from organisations like the Citizens Advice Bureau or see Moneymadeclear’s tips on making a complaint.

2. Contact the Financial Ombudsman Service
If you are not satisfied with the firm’s response, the Financial Ombudsman Service may be able to help you. The Ombudsman is a free, independent service for settling disputes between financial services firms and their customers. The Ombudsman will ask the firm to explain what happened and, then decide whether to uphold your complaint. You must contact the Ombudsman within six months of receiving the original response from the firm.

Visit the Ombudsman’s website for further information.

3. If you are still not happy
If you don’t accept a decision by an Ombudsman or you have not used an independent complaints scheme, as a last resort you can take your case to court. However, you can’t usually take your complaint to court if you’ve already been through a complaints scheme or you've accepted an Ombudsman's decision.

More information can be found on the Directgov website.

You can start a civil legal action in the county court or in the High Court (in England and Wales and Northern Ireland), depending on the circumstances of the case. In Scotland, most small claims are started in the Sheriff Court.