Our Complaints Procedure.

This document is a summary of that procedure, which is designed to ensure any complaints are dealt with in a professional manner, handled fairly, effectively, and promptly, and resolved at the earliest possible opportunity.

Our commitment to you

We will endeavour to resolve your complaint as quickly as possible and will work within the following timescales:

• Three Business Days — Once we receive your complaint, if we are able to resolve the matter by close of business on the third working day following its receipt, we will simply do so and advise you in writing with our Summary Resolution Communication.
• Five Business Days — If we are not able to resolve the matter as above, we will write to you within five business days acknowledging your complaint, confirming our understanding of the situation, and providing you with the name of the individual handling the complaint.
• Four Weeks — If we haven't been able to resolve the complaint sooner, after four weeks we will send you either our Final Response letter or a progress report explaining why we are not yet in a position to resolve the complaint.
• Eight Weeks — If we still haven't been able to resolve the case, at eight weeks we will send you either our Final Response letter or an explanation why we are not yet in a position to resolve the complaint, giving the reason for the delay and indicating when we expect to be able to provide a final response.

We will ensure the person dealing with your complaint has the required skill, knowledge, and authority to respond. Our staff are fully trained, and we operate a structured and robust complaints procedure to ensure all complaints are dealt with fairly.

We will ensure the letters we send are clear and explain things properly. When we resolve a complaint, you will either receive:

• Summary Resolution Communication — Where we have been able to resolve a complaint within three business days, we will issue a Summary Resolution Communication explaining that we believe the complaint to be resolved. This will include details of how to escalate the case if you remain dissatisfied.
• Final Response Letter — Once we have completed an investigation, we will issue our Final Response Letter. This will detail the complaint, explain our investigation, and confirm our findings. The Final Response will either uphold or reject your complaint and explain why. If any settlement or redress is awarded, an explanation of how this was calculated will be included.

We will give you access to the Financial Ombudsman Service — a free service set up by Parliament to sort out individual complaints that consumers and financial businesses are not able to resolve themselves.

If, once we have issued a Summary Resolution Communication or Final Response Letter (or after 8 weeks if we have yet to do so), you remain dissatisfied with the outcome, you may have the right to approach the Financial Ombudsman Service within 6 months of the date of the 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 the delay was due to exceptional circumstances.

Your commitment to us

In order to help resolve complaints as quickly and fairly as possible, we ask the following:

• Tell us what happened — We need to understand the situation as clearly as possible, so we may ask you to provide your side of the story or supply documents and information that may help our investigation. These can be provided by post, email, verbally, or through any other means you prefer.
• Help us find the right solution — It is in everyone's interests to get complaints settled amicably. If there is a particular outcome you believe would be suitable, tell us and we will assess if it is possible. If we can't resolve it the way you would like, we will explain why and offer an alternative solution.
• Respond to us as soon as you can — We may need further information or clarity on certain points. If we do, we simply ask you to come back to us as soon as you can so we can get things resolved quicker. If you can't come back straight away, just let us know.
• Treat us with respect — Whilst it can be frustrating if something's gone wrong, our job is to find out what happened and, where appropriate, put things right. Our staff will do everything they can to help — we ask that you give them the time to do their work and treat them with respect.

How to complain

If you wish to register a complaint, you can do so by contacting our Complaints Department using the following methods:

The Financial Ombudsman Service

Details of how to get in touch with the Financial Ombudsman Service will be issued with our Summary Resolution and Final Response letters, along with a leaflet explaining how the service works. If you require more information, the Financial Ombudsman Service can be contacted as follows: