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Before making a complaint

If you're unhappy with a financial product or the service you're receiving it's best to contact the firm as soon as possible. Firms have an obligation to treat their customers fairly, and will be keen to help and resolve the problem as quickly as possible. If you're still unhappy you have the right to make a formal complaint in order to seek an apology, correction or compensation.

Key steps when making a complaint

Step one

Ask for a copy of the firm's complaints procedure if you've not received it already. This will tell you who to write to, when to expect a response, and your options if you're unhappy with the final outcome.

Step two

If you're unhappy with the final response, or if your complaint hasn't been resolved within eight weeks, you can refer the complaint to an independent complaints scheme. These are free, impartial services and include:

The firm's written complaints procedure will confirm which scheme you'll need to contact. Most complaints about financial services firms are dealt with by the FOS.

You can read more in the article 'Independent Complaints Schemes' - see 'In this section' below.

If you're still not satisfied

If the FOS has considered your complaint and you're still unhappy you can go to court if you wish. But bear in mind that in most cases the court is likely to agree with the Ombudsman's decision.

If you've already been through an arbitration scheme or the Pensions Ombudsman, you can't normally take your complaint to the courts. (You could by-pass these schemes and go to court direct, but you could run up expenses.)

If going to court, use the small claims court. Other court systems can be expensive and time-consuming.

In some cases you may be able to use the new unfair relationships provisions introduced by the Consumer Credit Act 2006. These enable borrowers to challenge unfair credit agreements in court and obtain redress, if the overall relationship is unfair to the borrower.

• Making a complaint - more information from the FSA Opens new window

• Unfair relationships - more information from the Office of Fair Trading Opens new window

If the firm has gone out of business

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

If the firm you're dealing with has gone out of business, it's unlikely that it will respond to complaints. However, if it was authorised by the FSA you may be entitled to compensation under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

• Visit the Financial Compensation Scheme website Opens new window

More useful links

• Complaining about problems with your pension scheme

• Help with PDF files