To complain about a UK broker or investment firm, raise the problem with the firm first and explain what you want it to put right. If its final response does not resolve the dispute, or the usual eight-week response period passes, you may be able to take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. This is the FCA’s complaint and escalation process.
A useful complaint connects three things: what the firm did, how that affected you, and the remedy you want. Keep those points separate. A clear timeline and supporting records give the person investigating something concrete to assess, rather than a long exchange about how disappointed everyone is.
Identify the firm responsible
Start with the legal entity named on your account agreement, statements or advice documents. Address the complaint to that entity, not just the trading brand displayed on the app. If an adviser recommended an investment and a separate platform administered it, identify which business carried out the action you are challenging.
Use our guide to checking a financial firm on the FCA Register to compare the firm’s identity and contact details with your paperwork. Send sensitive documents through a verified complaints channel, rather than an address supplied in an unexpected message.
Ask the firm to confirm which entity provided the service if the documents are unclear. Do not assume that a group’s UK branding settles which company handled your account. If several firms were involved, explain each firm’s role and keep separate complaint references.
Explain the conduct you are challenging
Investment complaints can concern unsuitable advice, misleading product information, administrative mistakes or excessive charges. These are among the issues covered by the Financial Ombudsman’s investment complaints guidance. Whether a particular complaint succeeds depends on its facts and evidence.
Frame your complaint around the firm’s actions rather than disappointing returns alone. Instead of writing “this investment lost money”, explain why you believe the recommendation, information or service was wrong. Identify what you told the adviser about your needs, what you were promised, and where the documents support your account.
For an account administration dispute, be equally precise. Replace “the withdrawal took forever” with the request date, the amount, the documents supplied and each explanation for the delay. For disputed charges, compare the actual deductions with the fee schedule that applied at the time.
Keep facts separate from assumptions. “My order confirmation shows this time and price” is evidence. “The broker deliberately moved the market against me” is an allegation that needs its own support. Avoid making the second claim when the first is what you can establish.
Build a focused evidence file
Create a short chronology before drafting the complaint. Record the date of each event, what happened, who you contacted and the document that supports it. Use filenames that make attachments easy to identify, such as “Withdrawal request 12 August” rather than “Screenshot 47”.
Depending on the dispute, collect:
- Account documents: the agreement, applicable terms, fee schedules, advice reports and risk questionnaires.
- Transaction records: statements, payment confirmations, withdrawal requests and transfer instructions.
- Communications: emails, secure messages, chat exports and dated notes of telephone conversations.
- Loss evidence: disputed deductions, additional expenses and a calculation showing how the alleged error affected you.
For an execution dispute, record the instrument, order type, quantity, order reference, timestamp and time zone. Keep the price shown when you submitted the order and the execution confirmation. Request the firm’s explanation of any difference. Our guide to forex execution, slippage and requotes covers the trading mechanics separately.
Ask the firm to preserve relevant calls, messages and order records. Identify the dates and conversations you mean. If you cannot obtain something, explain what is missing rather than filling the gap with a guess.
Keep originals and send copies. Avoid putting passwords, security codes or unrelated financial records into your evidence bundle. The aim is to make the dispute easier to investigate, not to send your entire digital filing cabinet.
Write a clear formal complaint
Use “Formal complaint” in the subject line, followed by your account reference. Summarise the issue in the opening paragraph, then set out the chronology, impact and requested remedy. Attach supporting documents with a short description of why each matters.
If you raised the problem earlier, include that correspondence and ask the firm to confirm the date it recorded your complaint. Do not discard the original messages simply because you are now writing a more organised version.
Adaptable complaint wording
Subject: Formal complaint concerning account account reference
I am complaining about describe the action, advice, charge or delay.
On date, explain what happened. I contacted your firm on dates, but the issue remains unresolved because give the reason.
I believe the problem has caused describe the financial loss and any other impact. My calculation and supporting documents are attached. Where an amount remains uncertain, I have identified the information needed to calculate it.
To resolve the complaint, I ask you to state the remedy requested. Please preserve the relevant records and explain the evidence and calculations used in your response.
Please confirm receipt, provide a complaint reference and send your final response to preferred contact details.
Keep the requested remedy realistic and measurable. You might ask for a charge refund, correction of an account record, completion of an outstanding transfer, or an assessment of losses caused by an error. If the evidence does not yet support an exact figure, request the calculation rather than inventing one.
Track the complaint deadlines
For ordinary investment complaints, keep these time limits separate. The deadline for raising the original problem is not the same as the deadline for escalating a final response.
| Stage | Usual time limit |
|---|---|
| Raising the original complaint | Within six years of the event, or, if later, three years from when you knew or ought reasonably to have known you had cause to complain. |
| Referring an unresolved complaint | Normally after the firm’s final response, or once eight weeks have passed since it received the complaint. |
| Referring after a final response | Normally within six months of the date the firm sent its valid final response. |
The FCA’s Ombudsman referral rules contain the conditions and exceptions. Certain resolution letters can also start the six-month clock. Exceptional circumstances or the firm’s consent may allow a late referral, but do not plan around an exception.
Put the referral deadline in your calendar immediately. Do not assume that further correspondence restarts it. Keep proof that the firm received your complaint and confirmation of any Ombudsman submission.
Take an unresolved complaint to the Financial Ombudsman
Use the Financial Ombudsman’s complaint submission guidance to start the referral. Provide the firm’s identity, your account reference, the original complaint, its final response if available, and your supporting evidence. Explain which parts of the response you dispute and why.
If eight weeks have passed without a final response, provide evidence of when the firm received your complaint. Keep any holding letters too. Describe what remains unresolved rather than simply forwarding a large email chain without explanation.
Review the firm’s reasoning point by point. Did it use the wrong dates, overlook an instruction, apply a different fee schedule or calculate the loss incorrectly? Identify those gaps. Where the firm has corrected part of the problem, acknowledge that and explain what still needs attention.
The service is free for consumers, and you do not need a lawyer or claims company to use it. An investigator considers both sides. If either side disagrees with the investigator’s assessment, it can ask for an ombudsman’s final decision. These stages are set out in the Ombudsman’s explanation of its investigation process.
Tell the service promptly if severe illness, financial hardship or communication needs affect your case. Respond to requests for information by the stated dates, and explain any difficulty meeting them. Keep the case reference with your records.
Assess compensation and settlement offers carefully
Focus your loss calculation on the alleged error. In a hypothetical fee dispute, twelve monthly overcharges of £20 produce a £240 refund request. Any additional loss needs a separate explanation. Do not add every decline in the account’s value to that figure without showing the connection.
For a delay complaint, explain what instruction you gave and what would have happened if it had been carried out correctly. Support that account with records created at the time. A later statement that you would have bought the best-performing investment available is not a useful starting point.
The Ombudsman can require compensation or direct a firm to calculate it, subject to applicable award limits. It may also consider distress and inconvenience. Its compensation guidance covers financial redress, limits and court implications. The remedy depends on the case; a refund of the entire investment is not a standard outcome.
Read any settlement terms before accepting. Ask for a breakdown of the amount, the payment date and the issues the agreement would settle. Clarify whether an offer is intended as full and final settlement.
Accepting an Ombudsman’s final decision makes it binding on the firm and may prevent further court recovery for the same complaint. Court limitation periods continue running during the Ombudsman process. Get independent legal advice before accepting an award if court proceedings or a claim above the award limit may be relevant.
Recognise when another route is needed
Reporting concerns to the FCA
The FCA does not investigate individual complaints to resolve a customer’s dispute. Its consumer contact guidance distinguishes complaints from regulatory reports. Reporting suspected misconduct is not a substitute for pursuing your complaint with the firm and, where eligible, the Ombudsman.
A firm that has failed
If the provider or adviser has gone out of business, an eligible claim may fall to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme instead. The FSCS investment protection requirements depend on the firm, activity and claim. Failure alone does not establish that every loss will be compensated.
Keep your complaint papers even if the firm stops trading. They provide a record of the alleged error, the amount claimed and any admissions or offers already made. For the distinction between investment protection and ordinary investment risk, see our guide to what FSCS protection covers.
Suspected fraud
If you suspect a fake firm, stolen identity or unauthorised payment, do not wait for the ordinary complaint timetable before contacting your bank and securing affected accounts. Preserve payment details and messages, and use our separate guide to reporting an investment scam and responding to a loss.
For an ordinary broker dispute, keep control of the process: send a focused complaint, retain evidence of delivery, record the response deadline and escalate before the referral window closes. A firm rejecting your complaint is a decision to examine, not a reason to abandon the paperwork.