We aim to provide a very high standard of service to every client. It is important to us that all complaints are resolved as quickly as possible and to the complete satisfaction of our clients.
Any complaint verbal or written will be referred to our Complaints Officer at the earliest opportunity or to a member of the senior management if the Complaints Officer is unavailable. Our Complaints Officer is responsible for ensuring that we thoroughly investigate any complaints.
We are an Appointed Representative of Product Partnerships Limited (FRN: 626349). Therefore if your complaint is regarding finance or connected services, you have the option of referring your complaint to our principal on the contact details provided below.
Contact details:
Clients often express dissatisfaction to their adviser about the product provider, or the quality of the goods. We will need to establish whether or not your complaint relates to the advice given, the advisers service, the service or performance of the product provider, or the quality of the goods. If unclear, this must not delay investigation and we will proceed with our own investigation.
If the complaint is about another party, we will refer details of the complaint to the third party and confirm this course of action to you in writing.
The Complaints Officer will establish the nature and scope of your complaint having due regards to the Financial Conduct Authority’s direction:
Complaints that can be settled to your satisfaction within 3 business days can be recorded and communicated via an informal process.
If a solution to your complaint is proposed and you indicate your acceptance, we will promptly send you a ‘Summary Resolution Communication’, being a written communication from us which:
In addition to sending you a Summary Resolution Communication, we may also use other methods to communicate the information where:
Where the Complaints Officer judges that your complaint cannot be resolved within three business days, or they were unable to resolve your complaint in this period, the formal FCA complaints procedure will be followed. This process requires that we:
Our final response letter will set out clearly our decision and the reasons for it. If any financial redress is offered, a clear method of calculation will be shown, and it will be paid promptly and in full.
We will include details of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in our final response. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you may be eligible to refer your complaint to FOS. You must refer the matter to FOS within six months of the date of this letter or the right to use this service is lost.
While we would always aim to complete an investigation within eight weeks, if, for any reason, our investigation is not concluded within this period, our Complaints Officer will write to the complainant again. We will inform him/her of the reasons for the further delay and advise that if he/she is not satisfied with our progress he/she may be entitled to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Where we receive confirmation from you that you are satisfied with the findings of the investigation and any resolution we have proposed, your complaint will be considered closed.
Where no confirmation has been received from you within four weeks of our final response letter, your complaint may also be considered closed.
It is our policy to treat all customers the same, however, only eligible complainants may refer their complaint onto the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Eligible complainants are legally defined and have additional rights in law that we must acknowledge and adhere to.
Eligible complainants are:
The Financial Conduct Authority complaints rules apply to complaints:
We will co-operate fully, at all times, with FOS in resolving any complaints made against us and agree to be bound by any awards made by FOS.
The contact details for FOS are: