Our consumer leaflet: 'Want to take your complaint further?'

In some cases, complaints handling rules mean that claims management companies have to give customers an official printed copy of our leaflet. 

All the information contained in the leaflet can also be found on our website. 

This version of our consumer leaflet is designed to be read on screen. Where appropriate, claims management companies are required to give consumers an official print version (not a print-out of this web page).

Consumers can get a printed version on 0300 123 9123. 

Businesses can order supplies of the leaflet from us for their customers. Or we can provide businesses with an electronic version of the leaflet, so they can print it themselves under a licence from us – contact us for more information. 

Complaints we can look at include:

• unjustified or unclear fees
• delays in progressing claims
• inappropriate or incorrect claims advice
• poor communication or customer service
• failure to follow instructions

As well as individuals, we can also look at complaints from certain businesses and charities.

In Northern Ireland different rules apply. If you’re in Northern Ireland, or dealing with a CMC based there, let us know.

If you want to complain, give the claims management company a chance to resolve things first. Tell them what’s happened and how you want things put right.

If you’re not sure where to begin, get in touch with us and we’ll help get things started.

The claims management company has to give their final response to your complaint within eight weeks.

If you’re not happy with how things turn out – or you don’t get an answer from the claims management company – contact us.

We can adjust our service to meet your needs – so please just ask us if you need us to do anything differently, and we’ll do our best to help. If you’d prefer, we can also talk to someone else on your behalf – such as a friend or family member.

Time limits apply when making a complaint. So it’s best to take action as soon as you realise there’s a problem.

We might not be able to help if:

• what you’re complaining about happened more than six years ago; and
• you complain more than three years from when you became aware (or should have become aware) that you had a reason to
  complain.

And you’ll need to contact us within six months of the claims management company’s final response.

We can consider complaints from small businesses about claims management
companies, as long as the small business meets certain criteria.

We can help micro‑enterprises, which means businesses with:

• a turnover or annual balance sheet that does not exceed two million euros; and
• fewer than 10 employees.

We can also help small and medium‑sized enterprises (SMEs) that have:

• an annual turnover of less than £6.5 million (or its equivalent in any other currency);
• and either:

• a balance sheet total of less than £5 million (or its equivalent in any
  other currency); or 
• fewer than 50 employees.

For SMEs, we can only investigate complaints about things that happened on or after 1 April 2019. You can find out more on our Financial Ombudsman for small businesses site. 

The situation isn’t always straightforward. If you get in touch, we’ll let you know if we can help – and if not, what your other options might be.

Sometimes we decide that the claims management company has already done enough in response to a complaint. If that’s the case, we’ll explain why.

But if we decide you’ve been treated unfairly, we’ll tell the claims management company to put things right. For example, we can tell them to do one or several of the following things:

• apologise
• pay an award for financial loss
• refund fees and charges you shouldn’t have paid
• pay compensation for any distress and inconvenience you’ve been through

Find out more about how much we can tell a business to pay you. 

Your case will be considered by one of our investigators. They’ll look at both sides and give you their answer. We resolve nine in ten complaints this way.

However, if you don’t agree with our answer, you can ask for a final decision from one of our ombudsmen.

If you accept the ombudsman’s final decision, the claims management company has to do what the ombudsman says.

If you don’t accept it, that’s the end of our involvement. But you can still take your complaint to court.

At any point, you can let us know that you no longer want our help. 

We look at each case individually, so how long it takes to sort out your complaint depends on how complex it is – and how long it takes to get all the information we need. It will also take longer if you or the claims management company don’t agree with our initial assessment, and want an ombudsman to make a formal, final decision.

You can find up‑to‑date information about our general timescales on our how long it takes page.

Generally, we aim to acknowledge and allocate your case to a case handler within a few weeks – although at busy times it can take significantly longer. Most cases are then resolved within 90 days.

Our service isn’t right for all situations. Depending on what’s happened, it might be better for you to go to court. For example, you might want to go to court if you think the loss you’ve suffered is more than we can tell the claims management company to pay you.

We won’t usually look into a problem that a court has already looked into. And if you accept our ombudsman’s final decision, a court won’t look into the same issues.

If you don’t accept the ombudsman’s final decision, you can still take your problem to court. Because the courts take a different approach, their answer might be different to ours.