Financial Ombudsman: when a bank complaint can be referred
The Financial Ombudsman Service is usually the next step after the bank has had a fair chance to deal with the complaint. The trigger is normally a final response or the expiry of the bank’s complaint-handling deadline.
For most banking complaints, the firm has up to eight weeks to send a final response. Complaints about fraud, scams, payment services and electronic money use a shorter 15-business-day timetable, with limited scope for a later response. After a final response, you normally have six months to refer the case to the Ombudsman.
Know which complaint clock applies
A complaint about an account closure, a mis-sold packaged account or poor service will usually sit on the standard eight-week timetable. A complaint about a bank transfer, Direct Debit, card-payment handling, fraud or electronic money can fall under the 15-business-day payment-services timetable. The difference matters: waiting eight weeks for a payment complaint can waste more than a month.
Mark the date you complained and keep the bank’s reference. A bank may answer much sooner than the deadline. Once it sends a final response, you do not have to keep negotiating internally if you remain dissatisfied; you can normally take the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Practical check for this section: You complained about a £650 payment dispute and need to know whether to wait for the bank or refer the case now. Compare that record with complaint type, date received by the bank, whether a valid final response has been issued and the six-month referral deadline shown in that response. The point is to separate what you know from what you have only assumed. Use the correct complaint clock. Fraud, payment-service and e-money complaints can have a shorter response timetable than most other complaints, while most other complaints use the eight-week period.
For current complaint timing, the Financial Ombudsman Service says firms generally have 15 days to consider fraud, payment-service and e-money complaints, while most other complaints use an eight-week period. A customer normally has six months from the date of the final response to refer the complaint to the Ombudsman.
A final response starts another deadline
The final response should explain the bank’s position and tell you about your right to go to the Ombudsman. In most cases you then have six months from the date of that final response to refer the complaint. Put that date in your calendar. Continuing to exchange emails with the bank does not automatically pause the six-month clock.
If the bank has not sent a final response by the applicable deadline, you can generally approach the Ombudsman without waiting indefinitely. Keep evidence of when the original complaint was made so the Ombudsman can see that the response period has expired.
Put the decision into a small worksheet rather than relying on the headline. Use You complained about a £650 payment dispute and need to know whether to wait for the bank or refer the case now. as the test case and list the money at risk, the deadline or status, and the result of checking complaint type, date received by the bank, whether a valid final response has been issued and the six-month referral deadline shown in that response. Use the correct complaint clock. Fraud, payment-service and e-money complaints can have a shorter response timetable than most other complaints, while most other complaints use the eight-week period.
Send a case, not a box of documents
A strong referral explains what happened, why you think the bank’s response was wrong and what outcome would put matters right. Then attach the documents that prove those points: statements, transaction references, complaint correspondence, screenshots, receipts for consequential costs and any relevant terms. Thirty unrelated screenshots are less useful than five clearly labelled pieces of evidence.
For example, if a bank outage caused a £35 late-payment fee elsewhere, show the outage-related transaction problem, the £35 charge and your attempt to resolve it. That creates a clear chain from the bank’s conduct to the loss you are asking to be considered.
Build the evidence file while the event is still fresh. For a case like You complained about a £650 payment dispute and need to know whether to wait for the bank or refer the case now., keep complaint acknowledgement, final response, statements, payment evidence and a one-page chronology. That is more useful than sending dozens of unrelated screenshots. Use the correct complaint clock. Fraud, payment-service and e-money complaints can have a shorter response timetable than most other complaints, while most other complaints use the eight-week period.
The Ombudsman looks at fairness as well as rules
The service considers law, regulation, codes, the account terms and what was fair and reasonable in the circumstances. That means a complaint is not automatically won because a process felt frustrating, and it is not automatically lost because the bank points to a clause in its terms. The evidence around how the rule was applied matters.
Be precise about the remedy you want. It might be a refund of fees, correction of a credit-file entry, reimbursement of a payment loss, restoration of an account position or compensation for avoidable distress and inconvenience. A specific request helps focus the dispute.
Worked decision example: You complained about a £650 payment dispute and need to know whether to wait for the bank or refer the case now. Before acting, compare the best-case, expected and worst-case outcome using complaint type, date received by the bank, whether a valid final response has been issued and the six-month referral deadline shown in that response. If the action is reversible, record what should happen next and set a date to check it. Use the correct complaint clock. Fraud, payment-service and e-money complaints can have a shorter response timetable than most other complaints, while most other complaints use the eight-week period. This converts a vague banking problem into a sequence you can verify.
A practical escalation timeline
If you complained on Monday 1 June about a non-payment-service issue, note the eight-week point immediately. If the bank sends a final response on 20 June, the six-month referral window normally runs from that response date rather than from the end of eight weeks. If it sends nothing by the response deadline, you can escalate based on the delay itself.
For a fraud or payment-services complaint, count business days, not calendar days. Weekends and bank holidays can change the date. When timing is close, use the Ombudsman’s current guidance rather than calculating from memory.
Set an escalation trigger instead of waiting indefinitely. For You complained about a £650 payment dispute and need to know whether to wait for the bank or refer the case now., decide in advance what result or deadline would make you contact the bank, provider or other organisation again. Keep complaint acknowledgement, final response, statements, payment evidence and a one-page chronology. Once you have a final response you disagree with, or the applicable response period expires, prepare the referral promptly. The Financial Ombudsman says a customer normally has six months from the date of the final response to refer the complaint.
Sources and verification
Victoria Hughes
Treat the Ombudsman stage as a short, evidenced argument rather than a replay of every conversation you had with the bank. The two dates I would write down first are the bank’s response deadline and the six-month date after the final response. Then reduce the complaint to three things: what happened, what the bank got wrong, and the measurable result you want. That is far more persuasive than a long chronological diary with no clear remedy.
MyBankAnswers uses official provider and UK regulatory sources wherever practical. Information is general and does not constitute financial advice.