Complain to the FOS

[Never-In-Doubt]

Complain to the FOS

How to complain — the first steps

1. Complain to your bank, insurance company or finance firm
It's important that you complain to the business first and give them a chance to look in to your problem. They have 8 weeks to do this. The FOS can help by contacting the business for you, if you would like them to.

• phone the FOS Consumer Helpline on 0300 123 9 123
  8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday – they will also phone you back
  
  
• email complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
  they will usually be able to deal with phone queries on the spot – so phoning might be quicker than emailing

2. Ask the FOS to look at your complaint
If you're not happy with how the business has dealt with your complaint, you can ask the FOS to look at it for you. You will need to fill out the complaint form with the details. They can help you fill the form in (phone 0300 123 9 123). Or you can download the form below.

3. The FOS complaint form
These forms can be filled out on-screen – or printed off and filled out by hand. You will need to sign the completed form and post it/email it with any relevant paperwork.

• complaint form – "Word" format [267 KB]
• complaint form – PDF format [179 KB]

If your complaint is about payment protection insurance (PPI), you will also need to fill out the payment protection insurance consumer questionnaire. If you have done this already when you first complained to the business, remember to send a copy.

---> Here are some hints on the best ways of making sure your complaint is taken seriously.