As a firm, we place considerable importance on treating our customers fairly and aim to demonstrate this through a fair and prompt resolution of any complaint.

Naturally, our aim is to provide a first class service to all our customers.  However, on some occasions we accept that, for whatever reason, we may fall short of customers’ expectations.  Not all complaints are related to an individual’s performance. However, as a business we must learn from our shortcomings and therefore need staff to report all elements of customer dissatisfaction in the knowledge and confidence that this will be handled in a way which is fair to both customer and member of staff. 

*When the Complaints Manager is advised about a complaint it is recorded on our Complaints Register.  We record all complaints including:

• Complaints resolved by close of business on the next working day
• Complaints which relate to a third party with whom we deal
• Complaints from non-eligible complainants (i.e. those who cannot refer to the Financial Ombudsman Service)

*We record this information not to attribute blame but so that we have a full picture of where we may need to improve our services to customers or where those external companies with whom we deal may need to improve.

We carry out regular analysis and review of the complaints we receive.

What do we do if we receive a complaint?

All complaints received by us whether oral or written must be reported immediately to our Complaints Officer including those that are resolved by close of business on the next working day.  Any oral or written statement by a customer which might be considered a complaint must also be referred to the Complaints Manager. Reporting complaints and potential complaints means that the Complaints Manager can determine whether the complaint is from an eligible complainant or not.

The Complaints Manager will decide to whom the complaint should be allocated for review and response.  Only certain members of staff are permitted to handle complaints (see table above).

If the Complaints Manager is unavailable, details of the complaint must be passed to the relevant member of staff who will acknowledge the complaint and inform the Complaints Manager as soon as possible.

Definition of a complaint

The FCA defines a complaint as: 

“Any oral or written expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, from, or on behalf of, a person about the provision of, or failure to provide, a financial service*, which:

(a) alleges that the complainant has suffered (or may suffer) financial loss, material distress or material inconvenience; and

(b) relates to an activity of that respondent, or of any other respondent with whom that respondent has some connection in marketing or providing financial services or products, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service.”

Definition of an eligible complainant

The FCA defines an eligible complainant as:

• A consumer (any natural person who is acting wholly or mainly for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession)
• A ‘micro-enterprise’ employing fewer than 10 persons (i.e. 9 or less) with a turnover or annual balance sheet that does not exceed €2 million
• A ‘small business’ (other than a micro-enterprise) with an annual turnover of below £6.5m, and less than 50 employees or with an annual balance sheet total of below £5 million
• A charity with an annual income of less than £6.5 million
• A trustee of a trust with a net asset value of less than £5 million

To ensure we comply with all FCA complaint handling requirements we must follow the formal Complaints Procedure set out in this document.  Whether or not a complaint is defined as ‘eligible’ it is important because the Financial Ombudsman Service is ONLY available to eligible complainants.  However, we have chosen to follow this procedure for all complaints we receive, including those from non-eligible complainants, as we believe this is in the best interest of our customers

Record keeping

All complaints must be properly recorded on receipt by the Complaints Manager and at each appropriate stage of handling within a Complaints Register.  All records will be kept for a minimum of three years.

On receipt of a complaint, the Complaints Manager will decide which category and product type the complaint relates to, and record this on the Complaints Register. 

Acknowledging the complaint

In relation to all written complaints, the person designated to handle the complaint will acknowledge the complaint in writing within two business days.

In relation to all oral complaints, the person designated to handle the complaint will acknowledge the complaint in writing within two business days, setting out his understanding of the complaint and inviting the customer to confirm in writing the accuracy of that understanding.

The acknowledgement letter will outline the result of the investigation is complete.

If the investigation has not been completed, the acknowledgement letter will confirm that the firm:

1. Will investigate the complaint and respond within 14 days;
2. Highlight that if the investigation is not completed within 14 days following the initial receipt of the complaint, the customer will be informed of the reasons for the delay; and
3. Point out that on completion of the investigation the customer will be informed of the outcome and options available to him/her.

A copy of our external Complaints Procedure will be enclosed with the acknowledgement letter.

Copies of our external Complaints Procedure are held by the Complaints Manager.

Investigation

The person designated to handle complaints will investigate the complaint and will consult the adviser/member of staff whose actions or omissions gave rise to the complaint.  The designated person will also take into consideration relevant decisions:

• By the Ombudsman

• By regulators such as the FCA & Lloyd’s Complaint Handling Code
• By our firm concerning previous customer complaints. 

The investigation will include a review of the customer file, documenting the root cause analysis and may where necessary involve contact with third parties such as product providers to obtain information. 

If the person designated to handle complaints is themselves the subject of the complaint, the investigation will be conducted by another senior person.

Immediately on completion of the investigation, the person designated to handle the complaint will write to the customer notifying him/her of the outcome of the investigation, the nature and terms of any settlement.

In addition, if the complainant remains dissatisfied they may wish to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Any compensation offered must be fair and the basis of calculation should be explained to the customer.

If the investigation is not concluded within 14 days, the person designated to handle the complaint must write to the customer informing him/her that the investigation is continuing and the reasons for the delay and when he/she expects to be able to contact the customer again.

If the investigation is not concluded within 28 days, the person designated to handle the complaint must write to the customer informing him/her of the reasons for further delay and that if the customer is not satisfied with progress he/she may refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if he/she is eligible to do so.  The letter must also point out that this should be within the next six months or he/she may lose that right.  The letter must incorporate the name, address, telephone number and website address of the Ombudsman and a leaflet about the Ombudsman’s arrangements.

Each of the above events must be recorded in our Complaints Register.   The complaint handler should maintain a file for each complaint which should include copies of all correspondence relating to the complaint. 

The file will be held in a separate Complaint File.

Waiving time limits

As indicated above our final response must point out that the complainant, if they are not satisfied with our response, they must refer their complaint to the FOS within six months of the date of our final response or he/she may lose the right to take the complaint to the Ombudsman.  The effect of FCA complaints Rule changes introduced to fall in line with the Alternative Dispute Resolution Directive is that the FCA have given firms the choice to waive this and other time limits. The FCA has provided prescribed alternative  wordings, which are set out at Appendix 1.

Closing the complaint

Where our firm receives confirmation from the customer that he/she is satisfied with the findings of the investigation and any resolution, the complaint will be considered closed and recorded as such on the register.  Similarly, where we have issued a ‘final response’ letter we will update our records to record the complaint as closed.

Once a complaint is closed, a designated person will investigate and tackle any underlying ‘root cause’ issues, particularly where these appear to be the result of recurring or systemic problems.  Where appropriate, for example where the same issues may affect other customers, steps will be taken immediately to prevent further complaints; such remedial action may include offering appropriate redress to affected customers.

Additional Responsibilities  

In addition to the above we will:  

2.1. Ensure that all members of staff that may receive Complaints in relation to any operations under this Binding Authority Agreement are trained in Complaint identification to a level appropriate to their position and role within the organisation and are aware of the above procedure;

2.2. Inform policyholders of the availability of the EU Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) scheme in relation to products distributed under this binding authority agreement. Where required to do this, we must display the following wording on their website and policy documentation:

‘If you were sold this product online or by other electronic means and within the

European Union (EU) you may refer your complaint to the EU Online dispute

Resolution (ODR) platform. Upon receipt of your complaint the ODR will escalate your complaint to your local dispute resolution service – this process is free and conducted entirely online.  You can access the ODR platform on http://ec.europa.eu/odr.’]

Referring a complaint to another firm

If a customer makes a complaint regarding a matter that is the responsibility of a third party e.g. insurer or underwriter, and the firm currently markets, or has previously marketed that third party’s products, the firm is responsible for referring the complaint to the third party(Lloyd’s).

In all such cases the Complaints Manager will refer the complaint to the third party in a durable medium within five business days, and will issue the customer with a letter confirming the referral and giving the third party’s contact details, also within five business days.

If the firm is jointly or partly responsible for the subject matter of the complaint, a referral will be made as outlined above, and those matters which are the firm’s responsibility will be handled according to the general complaints procedure set out in earlier sections.

What happens when a complaint goes to the Financial Ombudsman Service?

Customers referring a complaint to FOS before we have investigated it and issued a final response

The FCA Rule at DISP 2.8.1 R (4) means, that if a firm consents, the FOS may investigate a complaint before the firm itself has done so, provided the FOS tells the complainant that the firm may handle it more quickly and the complainant nevertheless wishes the FOS to handle the complaint.

If one of our customers complains directly to the FOS, they will forward a copy of the complaint to us and ask us if we are happy for the FOS to consider the case.  We are required to tell the FOS whether we agree or refuse permission (our consent) for the FOS to investigate the complaint before we have done so.

Where the FOS undertakes the complaint, the firm is nevertheless still responsible for writing to the complainant if the complaint is not resolved within 8 weeks. It is the FCA’s view that the FOS will provide a fast turnaround on complaints such that the issue of the 8 week deadline should generally not apply.

Complaints investigated by the FOS in this way are both chargeable to the firm and will be taken into account in published data.

We do not envisage, that we will provide our consent for the majority of our complaints.

If there are any circumstances in which you feel it is appropriate for us to allow our consent, you should refer these cases to the Complaints Officer.

Customers referring a complaint to FOS after we have issued a final response

The firm must co-operate fully with the Ombudsman in resolving any complaints.  This includes promptly forwarding all files as requested by the Financial Ombudsman Service.  All correspondence with the Ombudsman will be routed via the Complaints Officer.

Appendix 1 – Prescribed letter wordings for waiving time limits

1. The respondent does not consent to waive the six-month time limit in DISP 2.8.2R(1)

You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge – but you must do so within six months of the date of this letter.

If you do not refer your complaint in time, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances. For example, if the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances

2. The complaint was received outside the time limits in DISP 2.8.2R(2) and the respondent does not consent to waive those time limits or the six-month time limit in DISP 2.8.2R(1)

You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge.

The Ombudsman might not be able to consider your complaint if:

• what you’re complaining about happened more than six years ago, and
• you’re complaining more than three years after you realised (or should have realised) that there was a problem.

We think that your complaint was made outside of these time limits but this is a matter for the Ombudsman to decide. If the Ombudsman agrees with us, they will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances (see below).

If you do decide to refer your complaint to the Ombudsman you must do so within six months of the date of this letter.

If you do not refer your complaint to the Ombudsman within six months of the date of this letter, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances.

The very limited circumstances referred to above include where the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.

3. The complaint was received outside the time limits in DISP 2.8.2R(2) and the respondent does not consent to waive those time limits but does consent to waive the six-month time limit in DISP 2.8.2R(1)

You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge.

The Ombudsman might not be able to consider your complaint if:

• what you’re complaining about happened more than six years ago, and
• you’re complaining more than three years after you realised (or should have realised) that there was a problem.

We think that your complaint was made outside of these time limits but this is a matter for the Ombudsman to decide. If the Ombudsman agrees with us, they will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances. For example, if the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.

The time limit for referring complaints to the Ombudsman is usually six months but we will consent to the Ombudsman considering your complaint even if you refer the complaint later than this.” 

4. The respondent consents to waive all applicable time limits

You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge.

Although there are time limits for referring your complaint to the Ombudsman, we will consent to the Ombudsman considering your complaint even if you refer the complaint outside the time limits.

5. Other scenarios – For other scenarios, the FCA indicates that suitable wording should be adapted from the above options e.g:

The complaint was received outside the time limits  in DISP 2.8.2R (2) and the respondent does consent to waive those time limits but not the six month time limit in DISP 2.8.2R(1)

You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge.

The Ombudsman might not be able to consider your complaint if:

• what you’re complaining about happened more than six years ago, and
• you’re complaining more than three years after you realised (or should have realised) that there was a problem.

We think that your complaint was made outside of these time limits however we will consent to the Ombudsman considering your complaint.

If you do decide to refer your complaint to the Ombudsman you must do so within six months of the date of this letter.

If you do not refer your complaint to the Ombudsman within six months of the date of this letter, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances.

The very limited circumstances referred to above include where the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.