How to complain, and what to do when they say no

The one thing people get wrong

They keep arguing with the company while the clock runs out.

Your deadline to escalate does not start when you give up. It starts on the day the company sends its final response. People spend four months going back and forth, feel they are getting somewhere, and discover the window closed while they were being strung along.

Escalating does not stop the company talking to you. If anything it concentrates their attention. There is no advantage in waiting. Not sure which scheme covers your problem? Start here and we’ll route you.

The four steps

1. Put it in writing, and use the word “complaint”

   Email or letter. Not a phone call, and not a message on social media that you cannot later produce. Say what happened, what it cost you, and what you want them to do about it. Keep it to one page.

   “I am making a formal complaint. I want a written final response setting out your decision and my right to refer this to the ombudsman.”

   Using that word matters. For a financial firm it triggers obligations under the FCA’s complaint-handling rules. For everyone else it starts the clock on their own published procedure. “I’m not happy about this” does neither. Keep the date you sent it — everything else counts from there.

2. Chase at four weeks, in writing

   Most people wait in silence for eight weeks. You do not have to. Chasing at four weeks, in writing, puts the delay on the record — and if week eight arrives with nothing, even their “we need more time” letter has to tell you that you can now go to the ombudsman anyway.

   “It is four weeks since my complaint of [date] and I have not had a response or an explanation of the delay. Please confirm when I will receive your final response.”

3. Read the final response properly

   A final response is not simply a letter saying no. It should give the decision, tell you that you can go to the ombudsman, name the scheme, and tell you how long you have. If those things are missing it may not count as a final response at all — which works in your favour, because the clock may not have started.

   “Is this your final response for the purposes of referring my complaint to the ombudsman?”

   A refusal given on the telephone is not a final response. Ask for it in writing every time.

4. Escalate

   Free, online, and you do it yourself. Attach your original complaint, their final response, and anything sent in between. Explain what you want put right in plain terms — the ombudsman is not looking for legal argument, and dressing it up does not help.

   People who go direct win more often than people who pay a claims firm. At the Financial Ombudsman, complaints brought directly were upheld 38% of the time against 26% for those brought by professional representatives.

How long do they get — and how long do you get?

The company usually gets eight weeks, though phone and broadband providers now get six for complaints raised on or after 8 April 2026. How long you get afterwards is the one that varies, and it is where complaints die.

Two further limits sit behind the financial one. Your complaint normally has to reach the Financial Ombudsman within six years of what went wrong, or — if that has passed — within three years of when you realised, or reasonably should have realised, there was a problem. The ombudsman can look at a late complaint where there were exceptional circumstances, such as serious illness, but you have to ask and explain.

The Legal Ombudsman is tighter: one year from the problem, or one year from when you should have realised.

In the rules: FCA Handbook DISP 1.6 for the response deadlines and DISP 2.8.2R for the referral windows.

What if they simply ignore you?

Silence is not a dead end. It is an outcome you can act on.

Once the company’s time has passed you do not need their permission and you do not need their letter. Go to the ombudsman and say the company did not respond. It counts, and it is a common way complaints are referred.

With energy and telecoms you can go earlier if they send a deadlock letter — a written statement that they have done all they intend to do. That is a right, not a courtesy. If someone tells you on the phone that there is nothing more they can do, ask for it in writing.

The exception worth knowing: payments and scams

If your complaint is about a payment rather than a product — a transfer that went wrong, a scam, money taken without your authority — a financial firm does not get eight weeks. It gets 15 business days, and only in genuinely exceptional circumstances can it take up to 35.

Most people never learn this, wait the full eight weeks, and lose a month of their own time for nothing. If your complaint is about a payment, say so explicitly and cite the shorter deadline.

What does it cost?

Nothing. Every scheme above is free to consumers.

A claims management company will typically take between a fifth and a third of whatever you recover, plus VAT, for filling in the same free form. On a £4,000 award that is up to £1,600 of your money for work you could have done in an afternoon.

There are situations where paying someone makes sense — several old agreements you cannot trace, or a case you genuinely cannot face handling yourself. Weigh that against the fee. But nobody can make an ombudsman decide faster, and no firm has a special route in.

What is changing?

Two things worth knowing about, neither of which changes what you should do today.

The government confirmed in March 2026 that it will legislate for an absolute ten-year time limit on bringing complaints to the Financial Ombudsman, with the FCA able to make exceptions. That is not law yet — it comes when Parliamentary time allows — but the direction is clear. If your complaint concerns something more than a decade old, do not sit on it.

The FCA and the Financial Ombudsman also consulted in 2026 on wider changes to complaint handling, including a registration stage before a complaint is formally taken on. A policy statement is expected later this year, and we will update this page when it lands.

Common questions

Can I go to the ombudsman without a final response?

Yes, once the company’s time is up — eight weeks for most sectors, six for telecoms complaints raised on or after 8 April 2026, fifteen business days for payment complaints. Their silence is grounds in itself.

Do I need a solicitor or a claims company?

No. Every ombudsman scheme is designed to be used without one, and complaints brought directly to the Financial Ombudsman are upheld more often than those brought by paid representatives.

What if I’ve missed the six-month deadline?

Ask anyway and explain why. The ombudsman can accept a late complaint where there were exceptional circumstances — and if the firm’s final response never told you about your right to escalate or the time limit, the deadline may not bind you at all.

Sources: FCA Handbook DISP 1.6 (response deadlines, including 15 business days for payment complaints); FCA Handbook DISP 2.8.2R (referral windows and outer limits); Energy Ombudsman dispute resolution process; Legal Ombudsman scheme rules; Ofcom, approved ADR schemes (six-week trigger from 8 April 2026); HM Treasury, Review of the Financial Ombudsman Service, 16 March 2026.