Complaints procedure

We aim to provide a high standard of service at all times. However, we recognise that there may be occasions when you feel that we have not met the standard you expect, or that something has gone wrong. If this happens, we want to hear about it so that we can put things right.

This page explains what we mean by a complaint, how to make one, what you can expect from us once you have, and your right to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if you remain unhappy with our response.

We treat a complaint as any expression of dissatisfaction you make to us, whether justified or not, about our provision of — or failure to provide — a financial service, or about a determination of redress. You do not need to use the word “complaint” for us to treat it as one, and it does not need to be made in writing.

You can contact us in whichever way is easiest for you. Making a complaint is always free of charge — we do not use premium-rate telephone numbers for this purpose.

If you are unable to put your complaint in writing yourself or would find it easier to discuss it with us first, please contact us and we will help you record the details.

All complaints are handled by our Compliance Officer, who has the authority to investigate your complaint fully and, where appropriate, to offer redress.

• If we are able to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction by the end of the third business day after we receive it, we will send you a short, written summary of our understanding of your complaint and how we have resolved it. If you accept this, your complaint will be closed.
• If we are not able to resolve it that quickly, we will send you a prompt written acknowledgement, normally within five business days of receiving your complaint, confirming who is handling it and how to contact them.
• We will keep you informed of our progress throughout our investigation.
• We aim to resolve every complaint as quickly as possible, and in any event, we will send you a final response within eight weeks of receiving your complaint.

Our final response will do one of the following:

• accept your complaint and, where appropriate, offer redress or remedial action;
• offer redress or remedial action without accepting the complaint; or
• reject your complaint and explain our reasons for doing so.

If, exceptionally, we are unable to send you a final response within eight weeks, we will write to you explaining why, when we expect to be able to respond, and confirming your right to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service in the meantime.

Where we uphold your complaint, we will provide fair compensation for any act or omission for which we are responsible. Redress does not always need to be financial — it may, for example, include an apology or corrective action. We will act on any redress you accept.

If you are unhappy with our final response, or if eight weeks have passed and we have not resolved your complaint, you may be entitled to refer your complaint, free of charge, to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) — an independent body set up to resolve disputes between consumers and financial services firms.

You will usually need to refer your complaint to the FOS within six months of the date of our final response. Our final response letter will confirm this time limit and enclose the FOS’s explanatory leaflet.

The FOS can generally consider complaints from:

• consumers — private individuals;
• micro-enterprises — businesses with fewer than 10 employees and turnover or balance sheet total not exceeding €2 million;
• other small businesses, charities and trusts that meet the FOS’s eligibility criteria, as set out on its website.

You can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service as follows:

Using our complaints procedure, and referring a complaint to the FOS, does not affect your right to take legal action.

If we receive a complaint that relates wholly or partly to advice or a product provided by another firm, we will acknowledge it promptly, tell you if we believe another firm is responsible, and pass on the relevant details so that firm can respond to you directly. Where responsibility is shared, we will deal with the part of the complaint that relates to our own advice or service in line with this procedure.

We record all complaints and the actions we take to resolve them. We use this information to identify and correct the underlying causes of complaints, so that we can continually improve the service we provide, in line with our obligations under the FCA’s Consumer Duty.

If you have any questions about this procedure or would like a copy sent to you in another format, please contact our Compliance Officer using the details above.