(Cases Covered by Financial Ombudsman Scheme)
- Complaints may be made in writing, by e-mail, by telephone or in any other form in respect of a service that we have provided and that is covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service.
- We reserve the right to decline to consider a complaint that is made more than six months after you became aware of the cause of the complaint. There may be instances where we will waive this requirement at our discretion. We will confirm to you in writing if a complaint has been made outside the time limit that we are prepared to consider.
- We will send you a written or electronic acknowledgement of a complaint within five business days of receipt, identifying the person who will be handling the complaint about the business. Wherever possible, that person will not have been directly involved in the matter which is the subject of the complaint and will have authority to settle the complaint.
- Within four weeks of receiving a complaint, we will send you either a final response which adequately addresses the complaint; or a holding response which explains why we are not yet in a position to resolve the complaint and indicates when we will make further contact with you.
- Within eight weeks of receiving a complaint, we will send you either a final response which adequately addresses the complaint; or a response which firstly explains why we are still not in a position to make a final response, giving reasons for the further delay and indicating when we expect to be able to provide a final response; and secondly informs you that you may refer the handling of the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman if you are dissatisfied with the delay.
- Where we decide that redress is appropriate, we will provide you with fair compensation for any acts or omissions for which we are responsible and will comply with any offer of redress which you accept. Appropriate redress will not always involve financial redress.
- If you are not satisfied with our response, or if a complaint is not resolved after eight weeks, you may refer the complaint to Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, Harbour Exchange Square, London, E14 9GE. Tel: 0300 123 9123 or 0800 023 4567. Visit online at https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/