Most of us are familiar with using credit in some shape or form, from loans, overdrafts and credit cards to catalogue shopping, car finance and hire purchase – not to mention mortgages.
Normally, things proceed as they should do – you make an agreement with the lender, both sides uphold their responsibilities, and everybody is happy. Perhaps there is an issue, so you make a complaint, and the lender resolves things to your satisfaction – great.
But what if something goes wrong? Where do you turn if you try and sort it out with the lender, but you’re getting nowhere, maybe out of pocket, and feeling like you haven’t been treated fairly?
The Financial Ombudsman Service
This is where the Financial Ombudsman Service comes in. It’s a free, easy-to-use service that was set up by Parliament specifically to help people who have a complaint about a financial product or service, and feel they have been treated unfairly.
They can look at complaints about banking, credit cards and loans, fraud and scams, insurance claims, investments and pensions, whether they are contacted by individual customers, small and medium‑sized enterprises (SMEs), charities or trusts.
So if you have a problem with credit cards, loans, or with items bought on credit that turn out to be faulty or not as expected – and you are unhappy with how your lender has handled things – the Financial Ombudsman Service may be able to help.
They can investigate how your lender has dealt with the problem, and they have the powers to put things right.
Which sorts of complaints can they help with?
Every year the Financial Ombudsman Service helps to resolve thousands of complaints about financial products and services, many of them to do with credit. These complaints can be in relation to any of a number of different types of credit, some you may be familiar with and some you may not. For example:
- Car finance
- Credit broking
- Debt collecting
- Financial difficulties
- Problems with debit or credit cards (Section 75 and chargeback – a common area where consumers have had legitimate claims for money back rejected by their credit provider)
- Guarantor loans
- Home credit/’doorstep loans’
- Logbook loans
- Payday loans, Unaffordable lending
If you are concerned about how you have been treated in relation to any of the above areas, or anything else to do with credit, the Financial Ombudsman Service may be able to help.
Making a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service
The Financial Ombudsman Service is free and easy to use. When you contact them, they will gather the evidence from you, the financial services business, and any relevant third parties, and they will investigate what has happened.
Once they’ve finished investigating, they will decide whether the business treated you fairly or not, and explain to you how they reached their decision.
If they think the business treated you unfairly, they will set out what they think needs to be done to put things right. They might also ask them to compensate you for any distress and inconvenience caused to you.