How to Make a Financial Ombudsman Complaint (FOS)

The bank made a mistake. The insurer refused your claim on technical grounds. The lender loaded you with a product that was never fit. The investment manager ignored your risk profile. The Financial Ombudsman Service is the free route to fix it — and what carries a complaint is a clear account of what happened, in your own words, with the evidence and the remedy you want set out plainly.

Who can complain to the Financial Ombudsman?

Start with the ombudsman service’s own description of itself: “The Financial Ombudsman Service is a free service, set up by Parliament in 2001. We investigate complaints about financial businesses – companies that provide products and services like bank accounts, credit cards and loans, insurance policies, pensions, savings and investments.” (Source: Financial Ombudsman Service, Who we are.)

That covers, among others:

• Banks and building societies
• Credit card issuers and lenders (including consumer credit and motor finance)
• Insurers (all types)
• Mortgage lenders and brokers
• Investment firms and fund managers
• Pension providers
• Payment services firms and electronic money institutions
• Claims management companies — the FOS confirms: “We can also look at complaints about claims management companies – that is, businesses who handle claims for compensation on behalf of consumers.”

And who can bring the complaint? The FOS says: “We can help you if you are: an individual or joint customer of a financial business, a small business or ‘micro-enterprise’, or a charity or trust”. If your dispute is with a bank account specifically, our walkthrough of the FOS bank complaint route covers that scenario in detail.

The 8-week rule — and the 15-day rule

You cannot go straight to the ombudsman: the firm gets the first chance to put things right. The Financial Ombudsman Service says: “For most complaints, a business has up to 8 weeks to consider a complaint.” (Source: FOS, How to complain.)

Some complaints run on a much shorter clock. The FOS’s published time limits state: “A business has 15 days to consider complaints about: fraud and scams, payment services such as bank transfers or direct debits, electronic money for example, online money transfers, Apple Pay or travel money cards”. (Source: FOS, Time limits to make a complaint.)

When can you refer the complaint? In the FOS’s own words: “You can ask us to investigate if: you’ve had a final response and you’re not happy with the outcome, or the business has had the time it needs and you have not had a reply”. Silence is not a dead end — “If you haven’t received a response to your complaint within the time limits, you can refer your complaint to us.”

One more protection worth knowing: the firm’s final response letter has to signpost your onward right. The FOS states: “The final response should mention that you have the right to refer your complaint to us for the next 6 months.”

How to send your complaint to the FOS

Three routes, all free of charge:

• Online — the quickest route is the FOS online complaint form: “You will need to answer a few questions and send us information about what’s happened, you can do this by filling in our online complaint form.” (Source: FOS, How to complain.)
• Phone — “you can speak to one of our customer advisers by calling us on 0800 023 4567. Our phone lines are open between 8am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.” (Source: FOS, Contact us.)
• Post — “You can send post to: Exchange Tower London E14 9SR” (Source: FOS, Contact us.)

And the cost of the ombudsman route is nothing at all: “Our service is free and easy to use. You don’t need to pay anyone to represent you, for example, a lawyer or claims management company (CMC).” (Source: FOS, How to complain.) That free door is yours by right. It is free because the firm pays: the ombudsman charges a respondent business a case fee of £680 where it records a change of outcome in favour of the complainant, against an annual case fee allowance of £2,000 (Source: FOS, Case fees). Note what that same page says about paying someone to complain for you — professional representatives are themselves charged a case fee, with a maximum of £260. Nothing is deducted from your award if you complain yourself.

Time limits for a Financial Ombudsman complaint

Three clocks matter, all published on the FOS time limits page:

1. Six months from the final response. “You have 6 months from the date on the final response you receive from the financial business to bring your complaint to us. If you complain after the 6 months, we usually won’t be able to help.”

2. The longer limits for complaining to the firm itself. “You usually need to complain to a business within: 6 years of your problem happening, or 3 years of becoming aware that you had cause to complain, or 3 years of when it would be reasonable to expect you to have realised you had cause to complain.”

3. Exceptional circumstances. A late complaint is not automatically dead: “We may also be able to consider a complaint if there are exceptional circumstances that account for the delay.” The FOS gives serious ill health and bereavement as examples of circumstances that can account for a delay.

Never received the final response, or it went to an old address? Two published points help you: the final response “should mention that you have the right to refer your complaint to us for the next 6 months”, and if you have not received a response within the time limits you can refer the complaint anyway. Refer promptly, explain what happened to the letter, and let the ombudsman decide.

What the Financial Ombudsman can award

The figures below are the scheme’s own published award limits, current for complaints referred from 1 April 2026 (Source: FOS, Compensation we can award):

• “For cases referred to us on or after 1 April 2026, about ‘acts or omissions’ – that is, the cause of the complaint – that occurred on or after 1 April 2019, our award limit is £455,000.”
• For older conduct, the limit is lower: “£205,000 for complaints referred to us on or after 1 April 2026 about acts or omissions that occurred before 1 April 2019.”
• Above the limit, the ombudsman can only recommend: “We can recommend they pay you more if we think it’s fair, but the business doesn’t have to accept that recommendation.”

On interest, the basis changed at the start of this year. For complaints referred to the FOS “from 1 January 2026, we typically ask financial businesses to calculate this using a time-weighted average of the Bank of England base rate plus one percentage point” — previously it was typically 8% simple a year. Awards can also include compensation for distress and inconvenience on top of financial loss. Two further points are worth knowing before you accept anything: if the firm does not pay by the deadline the ombudsman sets — “usually 28 calendar days from the date we inform the financial business you have accepted the final decision” — the late-payment interest rate “is usually 8% simple a year”; and interest awarded because a firm delayed paying you “can be awarded on top of the limit”.

What happens after you complain to the FOS

The service publishes its own standards for what happens next (Source: FOS, What to expect): “We aim to set up your case within seven days of receiving your complaint and will contact you when we do.” An investigator then looks at the case: “We aim to give answers to complaints within 90 days, but complex cases can take longer.”

If either side disagrees with the investigator, the case moves up: “If either of you don’t accept the investigator’s answer, you – or the business – can ask for one of our ombudsmen to review it and make a final decision.”

That final decision has teeth: “If a consumer accepts our final decision, then the decision is legally binding on the financial business.” (Source: FOS, How we make decisions.) And you are never forced to take it: “If you don’t want to accept the ombudsman’s decision, you don’t have to.” Rejecting it ends the ombudsman’s involvement but keeps the court route open. Note the trade-off the FOS flags before you accept: “Accepting compensation may mean you won’t be able to take the business to court for the same complaint.”

If the court route is where your dispute ends up — or the money you are owed sits outside the ombudsman’s remit altogether — the escalation ladder is the same one every claimant uses: a letter before claim done properly first and then, if it is ignored, a money claim through the online court.

Structure — the Litigant Standard

1. Short chronology

Dated events. Numbered paragraphs. Evidence-anchored.

2. The regulatory breach

You do not have to cite a rule, and you should not force one. The ombudsman is explicit that your complaint “doesn’t need to be formal or contain legal arguments”. What helps is naming plainly what the firm did wrong — sold you something unsuitable, lent what you could not afford, refused a claim it should have paid, ignored evidence. If you already know the standard that was missed, the FCA Handbook families are COBS (conduct of business), ICOBS (insurance), MCOB (mortgages), CONC (consumer credit) and DISP (complaint handling) — but an accurate description of what happened is worth more than a rule number attached to the wrong facts.

3. The loss

Financial loss (quantified). Distress and inconvenience (the FOS publishes awards guidance). Interest — for complaints referred from 1 January 2026 the FOS typically asks firms to calculate it using a time-weighted average of the Bank of England base rate plus one percentage point.

4. The remedy

Specific. “Refund of £X. Correction of credit file. Compensation for distress and inconvenience in the band of [£X]. Interest from [date].”

What the FOS complaint form asks for — and how to fill it in

This is the part most guides skip. The ombudsman’s online complaint form is short, and the service publishes what it does and what it will ask you:

• the form will “check you’re ready to send your complaint to us” and “give you an idea of whether we can help you”;
• it asks questions about “your complaint”, “what has happened” and “the financial business you want to complain about”;
• then, if it looks like the service can help, “we will explain the next step in the process”.

Write it in your own words. The single most useful line the ombudsman publishes about drafting is this one: “it helps if we can hear about what happened in your own words. No one can explain your experience – or how it’s affected you – better than you can. And what you write doesn’t need to be formal or contain legal arguments.” (Source: FOS, How to complain.) A complaint does not need to read like a court pleading, and dressing it up as one does not help you.

Have the final response to hand. The service says of the firm’s final response: “You should read this carefully and keep it. We will ask to see it if you contact us about your complaint.”

Keep the paper trail as you go. “Keep a note of any information or evidence that you think will support your complaint, such as conversations and correspondence you have had with the financial business. Providing this information will help us work more quickly if you bring your complaint to us.”

Say so if you are struggling. Tell the firm as early as you can if you are in a vulnerable position — the FOS gives the examples “you are severely ill”, “you are in financial difficulty” and “you need help urgently” — because “depending on the circumstances, they may be able to look at your complaint more quickly”.

Not sure how to reach the firm’s complaints team in the first place? The ombudsman points you to the firm’s website, its terms and conditions, its other paperwork or its customer service team, and notes that the Financial Conduct Authority publishes contact details for regulated businesses on the FCA register.

What the ombudsman can award for distress and inconvenience

Money you have lost is only half of it. Where a complaint is upheld, the FOS also considers “whether to award compensation for how you’ve been affected practically or emotionally” — and it publishes the bands it works to, which is what lets you ask for a realistic figure instead of a number you have guessed. The threshold first: the impact has to be “more than a minor annoyance”. The published examples (Source: FOS, Understanding compensation for distress or inconvenience):

• An apology, or under £100 — “a one-off incident or occurrence, such as a small administrative error or a short delay”, put right quickly.
• £100 to £300 — “repeated small errors, or a larger single mistake, requiring a reasonable effort to sort out”, with an impact lasting “a few days or even weeks”.
• Over £300 and up to around £750 — “considerable distress, upset and worry” or “significant inconvenience and disruption that needs a lot of extra effort to sort out”, typically over many weeks or months.
• Over £750 and up to around £1,500 — “substantial distress, upset and worry” or “potentially serious offence or humiliation”, often with serious disruption to daily life sustained over many months.
• Over £1,500 and up to around £5,000 — “sustained distress, potentially affecting someone’s health” and “severe disruption to daily life typically lasting more than a year”.
• Over £5,000 — “our highest awards, for the most extreme impact we see”.

Two practical points that decide which band you land in. The service asks about “what you did to sort out the business’s mistake and how long this took”, and about “the impact on your health” — so describe the effort and the effect, with dates, rather than asserting a figure. And the same mistake can attract different awards for different people: “The same mistake could have a different impact on different people, so we might award different amounts in similar cases.”

Note two limits on who gets paid: the FOS says it does “not normally pay compensation to someone else complaining on your behalf, for example, a family member or solicitor”, and it “can’t compensate executors personally, as they only represent an estate”.

The new mass-complaint landscape (2026)

The motor finance commission issue has driven very high complaint volumes, and firms handle these in large batches. Your own complaint is still considered on its own facts — which is exactly why it is worth setting out what happened to you, with your dates, your documents and the effect on you, rather than sending a generic template. If your complaint concerns mis-sold payment protection insurance — including the undisclosed-commission angle — see our PPI mis-selling claim guide.

Common complaint types

• Unaffordable lending — creditworthiness assessment failures under CONC
• Fraud recovery refusals — under PSR 2017 Contingent Reimbursement Model and 2024 APP fraud reimbursement rules
• Insurance claim refusals — non-disclosure, misrepresentation, “material contribution”
• Mortgage forbearance failures — MCOB 13 forbearance rules
• Pension transfer advice failures — DB pension transfers, insistent customers, suitability
• PCP motor finance — commission, affordability, voluntary termination rights

Two related money-back routes sit outside the FOS process and are often quicker: a card chargeback claim for goods or services bought by card, and — for package holidays that went wrong — a holiday refund claim under the Package Travel Regulations.

Can Chris draft the FOS complaint?

Yes. Upload statements, correspondence, the final response letter, any product documentation. Chris drafts the complaint with regulatory citations (FCA Handbook), loss calculation, distress banding, remedy sought, and supporting exhibit schedule. The ombudsman route itself is free and you never need anyone to represent you — what Chris does is put the drafting to a professional standard in your hands, and you keep 100% of any award.

Prepare to win. Plan not to fail.

The FOS adjudicator is the Adjudicator in our Universal Principle. Chris drafts for their wavelength — regulatory, factual, remedy-specific.

Related financial complaints & claims

Insurance complaint (rejected or underpaid claim) · PPI mis-selling claim · Section 75 credit-card claim · the Section 75 refund letter to send your card provider · chargeback dispute

Car finance, scam & mis-selling claims

Check if your car finance was mis-sold · car finance commission complaint · how much & the deadline · get your paperwork by SAR · claims company vs doing it yourself · bank refused a scam refund · bank transfer (APP) scam reimbursement · packaged bank account reclaim · unaffordable lending complaint

Frequently asked questions

How do I contact the Financial Ombudsman Service?

Phone 0800 023 4567 (lines open 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday), post to Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR, or use the online complaint form on financial-ombudsman.org.uk. These details are from the FOS contact page, and the service is free to use.

How should I write my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman?

Write it in your own words. The ombudsman says: “it helps if we can hear about what happened in your own words” and “what you write doesn’t need to be formal or contain legal arguments”. Set out what happened with dates, what you lost, what it did to you, and what you want the firm to do. Keep the final response and your correspondence — the FOS will ask to see the final response.

How much can the Financial Ombudsman award for distress and inconvenience?

The FOS publishes bands. An apology or under £100 covers a one-off small error; £100 to £300 covers repeated small errors or a larger single mistake lasting days or weeks; over £300 to around £750 covers considerable distress or significant disruption; over £750 to around £1,500 covers substantial distress or serious offence; over £1,500 to around £5,000 covers sustained distress affecting health or severe disruption lasting more than a year; the highest awards go beyond £5,000.

Does the Financial Ombudsman charge a fee?

Not for you. The ombudsman service is free to consumers and you do not need to pay anyone to represent you. The firm pays instead: the FOS charges a respondent business a case fee of £680 where it records a change of outcome in favour of the complainant, against an annual allowance of £2,000. Professional representatives are also charged a case fee, capped at £260.

What happens if the firm does not reply within 8 weeks?

You can refer the complaint straight to the ombudsman. The FOS says: “If you haven’t received a response to your complaint within the time limits, you can refer your complaint to us.” For fraud, scam, payment services and electronic money complaints the firm’s deadline is 15 days, not 8 weeks.

What is the time limit for a Financial Ombudsman complaint?

Six months from the date on the firm’s final response. You also usually need to have complained to the firm within 6 years of the problem happening, or 3 years of becoming aware you had cause to complain. The FOS may still consider a late complaint where exceptional circumstances account for the delay.

What if the final response was sent to the wrong address or never arrived?

The six-month clock runs from the date on the final response, and the FOS says the final response should tell you about your six-month referral right. If you have not received a response within the time limits you can refer the complaint anyway, and the FOS can consider exceptional circumstances that account for a delay — so refer promptly and explain what happened.

How much compensation can the Financial Ombudsman award?

The published award limit is £455,000 for complaints referred on or after 1 April 2026 about acts or omissions that occurred on or after 1 April 2019, and £205,000 where the acts or omissions occurred before 1 April 2019. Above the limit the FOS can recommend, but not compel, a higher payment. These are the scheme’s own published figures.

Is the Financial Ombudsman free to use?

Yes. The FOS says: “Our service is free and easy to use. You don’t need to pay anyone to represent you, for example, a lawyer or claims management company (CMC).”

Is the ombudsman’s decision legally binding?

If you accept the final decision, it is legally binding on the financial business. You do not have to accept it — but the FOS flags that accepting compensation may mean you cannot take the business to court over the same complaint.

Related guides: N244 application notice guide · How to start a money claim · All civil court forms