frequently-asked questions
This section answers a number of frequently-asked questions (FAQs) about:
complaining to the ombudsman
if a business goes bust
what happens if a business goes bust while the Financial Ombudsman Service is looking at my complaint about it?
If this happens, the Financial Ombudsman Service will suspend its investigation into your complaint. We are unable to help where a business cannot meet financial claims made against it.
In the case of an FSA-regulated firm, we will write to you, explaining that we have referred your case to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This separate organisation is the "final safety net" for customers of failed FSA-regulated firms. The FSCS will then contact you to explain how it may be able to help. The FSCS has its own separate set of rules and criteria for handling customers' claims against failed firms.
Jointly with the FSCS and the FSA we have produced a guide that explains the separate roles of our three organisations – and how and when we liaise and work together: