information for smaller businesses
This section gives you quick and easy access to questions we're most frequently asked by the smaller businesses we cover – from insurance brokers and independent financial advisers (IFAs), to pawnbrokers and retailers with a consumer-credit licence.
we've received a complaint for the first time. What do we need to do?
Many businesses covered by the ombudsman service only receive complaints very rarely – so may not be used to the official procedures they have to follow if a consumer complains.
Our quick guide – helping you resolve complaints [PDF opens in new window] – briefly sets out what you need to do if a consumer complains to your business. There are certain procedures you need to follow. These include:
- carrying out a proper investigation into the complaint and
- telling the consumer about their right to refer the case to the ombudsman service.
who can I talk to if I have a question about the ombudsman service?
Businesses covered by the ombudsman service can contact our technical advice desk for information on a wide range of issues – from how the ombudsman service works, to our approach on specific technical matters. Drawing on our experience of resolving tens of thousands of financial services complaints, we can give businesses practical help to nip potential problems in the bud – before they turn into full-blown disputes.
But if you have a question about a specific case that has already been allocated to one of our adjudicators for investigation, you should get in touch with that adjudicator.
Our website also has the answers to over a hundred questions that smaller businesses most frequently ask us – including:
- how can I find out about the ombudsman's approach to cases?
- where are the ombudsman rules published?
- how does the ombudsman service keep in touch with the issues that affect smaller businesses?
- how long will you take to resolve a case, once it's been referred to you?
- what can I do if I don't agree with an adjudicator's view?
- how often do you find in favour of the business rather than the consumer?
- how can you judge a complaint made today about advice given in the past?
- why don't you have a hearing in every case?
- who does the ombudsman service answer to?
- why should a sole trader or partner still be covered by the ombudsman after they have ceased trading?
- why does the 15-year "long-stop" rule not apply to time-bar complaints to the ombudsman service?
as a small business, can we complain to the ombudsman in our own right – about financial products or services provided by other businesses?
Most people who bring complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service do so in their personal capacity as individual consumers. But we can also consider complaints brought by smaller businesses that have annual turnover of up to £1 million.
This means we handle more than 2,000 complaints from businesses each year. We included some case studies – highlighting the issues typically involved in these types of complaints – in a special feature of our newsletter, ombudsman news.