Should you’re sad with how your monetary supplier has dealt with your grievance, attempt the FOS
Banks and different monetary corporations don’t get issues proper on a regular basis.
And if you happen to’re not pleased with the service you’ve acquired, we at Be Intelligent With Your Money, encourage you to talk up.
However what if you happen to don’t get the response you need or enough compensation because of your grievance?
Properly, the next move is the Monetary Ombudsman Service. Right here’s the whole lot you want to know.
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What’s the Monetary Ombudsman Service?
The Monetary Ombudsman Service is an organisation arrange by Parliament to deal with disputes between regulated monetary corporations that present companies in or from the UK, corresponding to banking, pensions, insurance coverage and loans. The service is free to make use of and the thought is that it’s an alternative choice to court docket.
When it’s wanting into your grievance, it’ll additionally communicate to the enterprise. If it thinks it’s handled you unfairly, it’ll define what must be carried out to place issues proper. The benchmark right here is to place you in the identical place you’d be in if the agency hadn’t received issues improper.
This might embrace refunding no matter you’ve misplaced and in some instances, you possibly can be paid compensation and curiosity.
Is there a time restrict to complain?
Sure – you will need to contact the Ombudsman inside six months of getting your last response letter from the enterprise you’re complaining about.
What complaints does the FOS take care of?
Should you’ve had an issue with a regulated monetary companies firm that gives merchandise in or from the UK, then the Ombudsman is probably going to have the ability to assist you.
Merchandise which are normally lined by the FOS embrace (however aren’t restricted to):
- Banking: accounts, funds, playing cards, money machines and extra
- Fraud and scams
- Insurance coverage: house, journey, motor, wedding ceremony and extra
- Investments
- Loans and different sorts of credit score together with automobile finance and payday loans
- Mortgages: fairness launch, valuations, early reimbursement expenses
- Pensions and annuities
The Ombudsman additionally says you may make different sorts of complaints if you happen to’re been handled unfairly close to Covid-19, home or financial abuse, the price of residing and energy of legal professional.
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What complaints can’t the FOS assist with?
The Ombudsman gained’t have the ability to have a look at complaints which have exceeded the time restrict or if you happen to’re complaining a few non-UK enterprise. For the latter, there may be the same dispute decision physique within the nation of that firm.
The FOS can also’t assist with issues which have been checked out by the FOS already or have been dominated on by a court docket.
Some complaints might need to be handled by one other organisation, which the Ombudsman can direct you to.
How does the FOS complaints course of work?
You first have to complain to your supplier to provide them an opportunity to kind it out.
Should you’re not pleased with the ultimate response letter or they don’t reply to your grievance inside eight weeks, you may then contact the Ombudsman.
The FOS will wish to see proof of what’s gone improper so maintain maintain of any emails, screenshots, and different notes or correspondence to again your declare.
It’s a good suggestion to make use of the Ombudsman’s online complaints checker subsequent, to see if it could possibly assist you. You’ll undergo some easy questions and it ought to solely take a couple of minutes.
If by the top of the questions, the FOS thinks it could possibly assist together with your grievance, you’ll then have to fill in a web-based complaints kind.
You’ll have to know:
- The title of the monetary enterprise you’re complaining about
- Dates of correspondence with the enterprise, together with the date of its last response
- Your account or coverage particulars
You’ll additionally want to elucidate what you’re sad about and the way the enterprise has responded.
The Ombudsman suggests the shape may take as much as half-hour to complete and you’ll’t reserve it and are available again to it – it must be carried out in a single go.
Alternatively, you may make your grievance over the cellphone by calling the FOS on 0800 023 4567 or by arranging for kinds to be despatched to you. The Ombudsman says its busiest days are Mondays so it’s finest to make the decision on one other day, if you would like shorter ready instances.
What occurs after I’ve submitted my grievance?
Now a phrase of warning, it could possibly take a very long time in your grievance to be handled by the FOS.
You must get a response inside seven days to your preliminary submission inside seven days but it surely may take two to 3 months in your case to be allotted to a case handler for investigation. Nonetheless, it may be even longer relying on what your grievance is about.
Throughout this time the FOS contacts the enterprise you’re sad with they usually might get in contact with you to settle with you instantly.
This occurred to me once I made a grievance a few journey insurance coverage firm who made it inconceivable to submit a declare. The Ombudsman contacted the agency and it provided me £250 compensation, which I used to be blissful to simply accept to place an finish to the matter.
If the agency doesn’t get in contact, or if you wish to proceed with the Ombudsman, it could possibly take as much as one other 90 days in your case handler to research and are available again with their evaluation. Throughout this time, you ought to be stored up to date as soon as a month.
Should you disagree with what the case handler says (or if the enterprise pushes again) you or the agency can ask for a ‘last determination’ to be made. This implies an ombudsman will evaluation the investigation and make a name on whether or not to uphold your grievance or not. Nonetheless, count on this to take longer.
So general, it may take so long as six months and even longer in your grievance to be investigated and for a call to be made.
How a lot compensation may I get?
The FOS can inform a enterprise to compensate you in plenty of methods. These embrace:
- Overlaying monetary losses
- Compensation for stress and inconvenience – or the influence of what went improper (this might embrace the time you spent making an attempt to get the problem sorted out and if there was a adverse impact in your well being)
- Non-financial compensation
- Curiosity
- Paying prices (though that is uncommon)
On the subject of protecting your prices, the FOS has a restrict of how a lot it could possibly ask the enterprise to pay. In the meanwhile it’s £445,000 for complaints referred to it on or after 1 April 2025 about points that occurred on or after 1 April 2019.
If the FOS decides the enterprise ought to pay you curiosity (say due to a financial institution’s mistake you’ve been with out your funds for a while and missed out on returns) they’ll ask for 8% for the times you’ve been with out your cash.
Nonetheless, as announced in Rachel Reeves’ Mansion House speech, from January 1 2026 that is altering to 1% plus the Financial institution of England base charge.
How a lot you’re awarded for stress and inconvenience will rely on the circumstances. For instance, if it’s a one-off mistake the FOS may ask the enterprise to pay you a small sum, in all probability beneath £100, to apologise.
Or, if an error has precipitated you extra frustration and annoyance than you’d count on from day-to-day life and an apology gained’t lower it, you possibly can be awarded a sum between £100 and £300.
This might be paid if you happen to’ve skilled repeated small issues, or a bigger single mistake, which have meant you’ve wanted to place in additional effort to kind it out. The problems may have gone on for days or even weeks and precipitated you some stress or inconvenience.
When making your grievance, ensure you embrace the influence the enterprise’s error or errors have had in your life together with stress, influence on well being, time you’ve spent on it, and inconvenience.
It’s price noting that if you happen to do settle for compensation as determined by the FOS, it means you’re unlikely to have the ability to get extra if you happen to determine to later go to court docket.
What’s the probability of the FOS ruling in my favour?
It’s onerous to say, because it’ll rely on what your grievance is.
Nonetheless, the FOS does publish uphold charges for various classes, which I’ve included beneath for 2024/25:
| Criticism class | Uphold charge |
| Banking and funds | 32% |
| Client credit score | 32% |
| Mortgages | 32% |
| Insurance coverage | 38% |
| Investments | 36% |
| Pensions | 48% |
So, if we go by the averages, you’ve received an honest probability of the Ombudsman ruling in your favour.
If you wish to have a look at the uphold charge for particular merchandise you may verify the figures on the FOS website.
Is it price making a grievance to the FOS?
Positively. Should you assume you’ve been wronged by a monetary companies firm and also you’re getting nowhere with them, there’s nothing to lose (and the whole lot to realize) by taking your grievance to the Ombudsman.
Sure, it may take some time to get the matter resolved however as I discussed earlier than, the FOS may immediate the enterprise to do the correct factor with out the necessity of a full investigation, and it’s a free different to taking the corporate to court docket.
