The Financial Ombudsman Service is changing how it handles complaints, and one change matters more than the rest if you’re about to make one.
From 1 October 2026, new Financial Ombudsman dismissal powers take effect, allowing it to turn away complaints that aren’t appropriate for it such as ones better resolved in other ways, or already being investigated elsewhere. That includes complaints better suited to court, to legal enforcement, or to another dispute resolution process. It also includes complaints where there has been no financial loss, or material distress or inconvenience.
That last ground is the one to pay attention to.
Why does this change what you should write?
The Ombudsman resolves around 200,000 disputes a year, and it’s under strain. It took 53,600 cases in the first quarter of this financial year alone. The reforms are aimed at focusing its resources on the cases it was set up to resolve, as a quick and informal alternative to the courts.
For most people with a real complaint, nothing changes. If a bank took money it shouldn’t have, or an insurer refused a claim it should have paid, that’s a financial loss and it’s what the Ombudsman is for.
But it does mean the impact of what happened is no longer something you can leave implied. If your complaint is essentially “they handled this badly and it was stressful”, you now need to say what that stress actually consisted of, in real terms: the hours on the phone, the missed payment that followed, the time off work, the sleep. Not adjectives. Specifics.
So when you write to the firm, and later to the Ombudsman, say plainly: this is what it cost me, and this is what it did to me. That was always good practice. From October it’s essential.
What else is changing?
A new registration stage will be introduced next year, checking that complaints are within scope and ready to be investigated before they’re allocated to a caseworker. So expect an extra step at the front, after a consultation on case fees later this year.
And the Ombudsman has confirmed that its decisions are based on the standards that applied at the time of whatever you’re complaining about, and won’t be applied retrospectively. In plain terms: your complaint is judged against the rules as they stood when the firm acted, not by today’s rules.
Separately, the Financial Services and Markets Bill going through Parliament would introduce a ten-year time limit on bringing complaints, subject to any exceptions in FCA rules. That’s not law yet.
Complaining is still free, and you still don’t need anyone to do it for you. Our guide to writing a complaint letter covers what to include, and the part about describing the impact just became the most important section in it. If you’ve had a final response you disagree with, what to do when they say no sets out the referral step.
Common questions
When do the new Financial Ombudsman dismissal powers start?
1 October 2026. They allow the Ombudsman to dismiss complaints better resolved in other ways, better suited to court or another process, or where there has been no financial loss or material distress or inconvenience.
Will my complaint be dismissed if I wasn't left out of pocket?
Not necessarily u2014 material distress or inconvenience also counts. But it means you should describe the impact concretely rather than leaving it implied.
Is there a time limit on complaining to the Financial Ombudsman?
The existing time limits still apply. A ten-year limit is proposed in the Financial Services and Markets Bill, but that is not yet law.