Financial Ombudsman Service

The service's own description sets out its role and origin: 'The Financial Ombudsman Service is a free service, set up by Parliament in 2001. We investigate complaints about financial businesses – companies that provide products and services like bank accounts, credit cards and loans, insurance policies, pensions, savings and investments.' Its power is corrective rather than merely advisory: 'If we decide that a financial business hasn't treated a customer fairly, we have the power to put things right.' Its jurisdiction also extends beyond financial firms themselves: 'We can also look at complaints about claims management companies – that is, businesses who handle claims for compensation on behalf of consumers.'

Not everyone can use the service, and not every complaint qualifies. It can help 'an individual or joint customer of a financial business, a small business or "micro-enterprise", or a charity or trust', but the process has a first step that must be followed: complaining to the financial business first. The service also flags common reasons it may have to turn a complaint away: 'if we've looked at it already', 'if the courts have made a decision about the case', or 'if it's outside the time limits' — though it adds that where a consumer isn't sure whether their case qualifies, they should 'contact us to discuss what's happened.'