Financial Ombudsman Service

Financial Ombudsman Service: free arbitration of financial complaints in the UK

The Financial Ombudsman Service is a body set up by Parliament in 2001 that investigates complaints made against financial businesses. Its service is free and is designed so that consumers can resolve a dispute with a financial firm at no cost. When it determines that a business has not treated a customer fairly, it has the power to order that things be put right.

What types of complaints it handles

The service examines complaints relating to businesses that offer financial products and services, including bank accounts, credit cards and loans, insurance policies, pensions, savings and investments. It can also look at complaints about claims management companies, that is, businesses that handle claims for compensation on behalf of consumers.

Who can use the service

Complaints can be submitted by individual or joint customers of a financial product, small businesses or micro-enterprises, and charities or trusts. In cases where the service cannot help, it tells the complainant about other organisations that may be able to assist.

Limits on what it can do

The service cannot handle every complaint. The most common reasons for rejection are that the matter has already been examined before, that the courts have made a decision about the case, or that the complaint falls outside the time limits. When there is doubt about eligibility, the body invites you to get in touch to discuss what has happened.

How to complain

The process has three steps. First, the consumer must complain to the financial business itself. Then, if they do not receive a satisfactory response, they can send an online complaint form to the service. Finally, the body provides a fair answer and explanation about the case.

Published illustrative cases

The site includes case studies that illustrate the type of situations examined. These include Melanie, whose current account switch did not go as smoothly as she expected after taking up an offer with a financial reward and associated conditions; Evan, whose bank blocked payments on his current account due to suspicions of coercion or fraud, although it allowed him to withdraw cash and pay bills; and Tesh and Iona, who lost out on an investment opportunity because the bank would not lift payment restrictions without proof of identification in branch. All of these fall under the banking and payments category.

Information and transparency resources

The body maintains sections dedicated to complaint handling, case studies, complaints data and a decisions database. It also offers a newsletter and publishes corporate, legal, accessibility, procurement and Modern Slavery Act information, as well as content in Welsh.