Complaints

Your Guide to Our Complaints Procedure

Our aim is to provide you, at all times, with a first-class standard of service. However, there may be occasions when you feel that this objective has not been achieved.  We take all complaints seriously and will deal with your complaint in the following manner:

  • We will acknowledge your complaint promptly following receipt, enclosing a copy of these procedures.
  • We will try to resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. If we resolve your complaint by the end of the third business day after it was made and you have accepted our response, we will write to you to confirm this and to provide information in relation to what you can do if you remain dissatisfied.
  • If we have reasonable grounds to be satisfied that another firm may be solely or jointly responsible for the allegation(s) made, we will promptly forward the complaint or the relevant part of it to that firm. We will write to you to confirm our actions and provide contact details of the firm concerned.
  • If we are unable to resolve your complaint by the end of the third business day after it was made, we will write to you promptly to let you know that we have received your complaint and are dealing with it. We will keep you informed of what progress we are making in relation to resolving your complaint.
  • We will endeavour to send you our Final Response Letter, addressing your concerns and providing you with our decision, within 8 weeks or keep you informed of the progress of your complaint if not resolved before then.
  • We will write to you with our final response once our investigation is complete or, in any event, no later than eight weeks after receiving your complaint. We will provide details of our proposed resolution or, if applicable, why we have not been able to achieve a resolution by that time. At this time, you will be entitled to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman’s Service who can be contacted using the details below. We will also enclose the Financial Ombudsman Service consumer leaflet.
  • In our final response letter, we will set out our final view on the issues raised in your complaint and say whether we:
  1. accept your complaint and where appropriate offer redress
  2. are offering redress without accepting your complaint
  3. reject your complaint
  • If we reject your complaint, our Final Response Letter will explain why we have reached this decision.
  • Once we have provided our final response, or in any event after eight weeks, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge – but you must do so within six months of the date of our final response. If you do not refer your complaint in time, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances. For example, if they believe that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.
  • The Financial Ombudsman Service can be contacted on 0800 023 4567 or at Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR. You can also visit their website for more information: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
  • You should allow us to complete our internal complaints procedure before you refer your concerns to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

We shall deem the matter closed when:

  • Our investigation has been completed and a Final Response Letter has been sent to you

or

  • Where you have indicated, in writing, acceptance of any earlier response, where appropriate.