Any expression of dissatisfaction about the provision, or failure to provide, a financial service and complaints handling procedure which alleges that you have suffered (or may suffer) financial loss, material distress or material inconvenience is treated as a complaint. This includes correspondence in writing and that made during the course of any verbal communication with us. Where any customer expresses concern about the service, steps are taken to resolve the matter quickly and it is treated seriously.
Complaints may be received directly from you or from a third party representatives. In the event of any complaint the matter will be recorded and logged, and referred to our nominated complaints handler in accordance with our complaint handling procedure.
Any complaint received from a third party representative such as Trading Standards or the Citizens Advice Bureau will be referred to the nominated complaints handler.
This complaints procedure is aimed at resolving complaints quickly and satisfactorily and further improving the quality of our service.
The following complaints procedure notice is made available to every customer or upon request, how to complain is on our website, and is also included in summary form in our customer documentation.
We are committed to resolving complaints as quickly as possible.
We will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 2 business days (not including Saturday/Sunday or a UK bank holiday) and we hope to provide a final response within 28 days. All customers will be notified of the Ombudsman Service in pre- contract information, Complaint notices and website information. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is an independent service get up by parliament to intervene in disputes between customers and financial institutions, when agreement cannot be reached between them. It is a free service.
As part of our complaint handling service we must make a customer aware of their right to approach the FOS. The FOS request that a complaint must first be notified to us that you are unhappy with our service. The FOS will assist customers with that first approach.
We have up to eight weeks , but aim for 28 days to deal with the complaint after which, if the customer is still unhappy, you may contact the FOS at:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
0800 023 4567
The Financial Ombudsman Service Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR
