The short answer
If your complaint is about a financial firm and the firm has said no or gone quiet, this is where it goes. The firm gets eight weeks — fifteen business days for payment complaints — and you then get six months from their final response. Referring is free, online, and people who do it themselves win more often than people who pay someone.
What to do today: check your final response’s date, count six months forward, and if you’re inside the window, refer — the form takes less time than you’ve already spent arguing.
Who do they cover?
Banks and building societies. Insurers, including when a claim is refused. Lenders of every kind — credit cards, loans, car finance, catalogue credit, payday lenders. Investment firms and financial advisers. Mortgage providers. E-money and payment apps. Debt collectors chasing regulated debts.
The boundary cases people get wrong: pension administration goes to the Pensions Ombudsman, but pension advice or sales comes here. Car finance comes here — the Motor Ombudsman is for garages and dealers, not the finance agreement. And if the firm has gone bust, the route is the Financial Services Compensation Scheme instead, because there’s nobody left to complain about.
Not sure your problem belongs here? Start here and we’ll route you.
The two clocks
- Most complaints
Their time8 weeks - Payment complaints — scams, wrong transfers, unauthorised payments
Their time15 business days - Your window after the final response
The one that ends complaints6 months - Outer limits behind everything
From the event, or from when you realised6 yrs / 3 yrs
The six months runs from the final response’s date — not from when you stopped arguing. The ombudsman can accept late complaints in exceptional circumstances, and a final response that never told you about your referral right is a weak foundation for any time-bar argument.
How do you refer?
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Gather three things
Your complaint, their final response — or evidence of silence past the deadline — and anything in between that matters. That’s the file.
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Fill in the form at financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Plain words. What happened, what it cost you, what you want put right. No legal argument required — dressing it up doesn’t help, and the ombudsman decides on what’s fair and reasonable, not on drafting.
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If they never responded, say exactly that
“I complained on [date]. More than eight weeks have passed and the firm has not sent a final response. I am referring the complaint on that basis.”Then it queues for an investigator, who asks the firm for its file — the same file your subject access request would surface, which is why thin refusals tend not to survive the journey.
What can they award?
Your actual loss, plus interest — typically 8% a year on money you were kept out of — plus something for distress and inconvenience where it’s real. Awards are binding on the firm if you accept them. If you don’t accept, your right to go to court survives.
And the number worth repeating: complaints brought directly were upheld 38% of the time against 26% for those brought by professional representatives. A claims firm takes up to a third of your award to reduce your odds.
What’s changing?
Two live reforms, neither changing what you should do today. The government confirmed in March 2026 that it will legislate for a ten-year longstop on complaints, with FCA power to make exceptions — not yet law, but if your complaint is about something old, don’t sit on it. And the FCA and the ombudsman consulted in 2026 on wider changes to how complaints are handled, including a registration stage; a policy statement is expected later this year. We’ll update this page when either lands.
Common questions
Do I need the firm’s permission or a reference number to refer?
No. The right to refer is yours once you have a final response or their time has passed. A reference helps the ombudsman match the file; its absence stops nothing.
Can the firm punish me for going to the ombudsman?
No — and a pending offer doesn’t lapse because you referred. Firms often improve offers once an investigator is asking questions.
How long does it take?
Longer than anyone would like — months, not weeks, and complex cases longer. Which is one more reason to refer promptly rather than spending the six months negotiating.
Sources: FCA Handbook DISP 1.6 (response deadlines, including 15 business days for payment complaints); FCA Handbook DISP (referral windows, outer limits, referral where eight weeks have elapsed); HM Treasury, Review of the Financial Ombudsman Service, 16 March 2026; financial-ombudsman.org.uk.
Taken a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman?