The Eight-Week Rule: When You Can Go to the Ombudsman

If you have complained to a bank, insurer, lender or energy supplier and the answer has not come, the eight-week rule is what decides when you can stop waiting and take the case further. Firms have eight weeks to give you a final response to a complaint, and once that period has passed without one, you can usually escalate to an ombudsman. The Financial Ombudsman Service puts it plainly: if a firm does not send a final response letter within eight weeks, or you are unhappy with the response it does send, you can bring the complaint to it¹.

The same eight weeks runs through most consumer complaint schemes. Energy suppliers, phone and broadband providers, claims management companies and financial firms all work to it, and the Financial Ombudsman Service describes eight weeks as the time a business has to answer a complaint in most cases². The clock starts from the date you first complained, not from when the firm acknowledged it³.

Two things are worth knowing before you count the days. The eight weeks is a deadline for the firm, not a waiting period you have to serve: a final response that arrives in week two lets you escalate in week two if you disagree with it¹. And the eight weeks is the earliest you can escalate, not the last chance. There are separate deadlines for bringing a complaint to the ombudsman, covered below.

The eight-week rule: how long a firm has to answer your complaint

Eight weeks is the standard deadline across UK complaint schemes. The Financial Ombudsman Service tells businesses they should reply to a customer within eight weeks, and describes that as the time limit for a business to reply to a complaint². The same period appears in its guidance on payment protection insurance, where a business has eight weeks to answer a complaint, and in its general consumer material, where a firm must give its final response within eight weeks in most cases⁷.

It is not only financial firms. The Claims Management Ombudsman says a claims management company has to give its final response to a complaint within eight weeks⁶. Guidance for lease or hire agreements says a business will need to respond within eight weeks⁹. Independent guidance on complaints about lenders says the lender has eight weeks to respond¹⁰, and guidance on mis-sold financial products says the firm has eight weeks to respond after you have complained¹¹.

The period is measured from your complaint, not from any acknowledgement. Guidance on mortgage broker complaints describes it as eight weeks from the date you complain³. The Financial Ombudsman Service's own case studies describe complaints referred to it when they remained unresolved after eight weeks¹².

Consumer Scotland has argued against extending the eight-week deadline for firms to resolve a complaint at the first tier, noting that eight weeks is common across other ombudsman schemes such as those in the energy sector¹³. In other words, the figure is a settled feature of the system rather than a quirk of one scheme.

When you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service

The Financial Ombudsman Service covers complaints about banks, building societies, insurers, lenders, mortgage brokers, investment firms and many other financial businesses. Its process has two steps. First you complain to the company involved. If it does not send a final response letter within eight weeks, or you are unhappy with the response it does send, you can bring the complaint to the ombudsman¹.

That route is repeated across the service's consumer pages. On complaints about financial difficulties with a mortgage, it says a firm should look into things and reply within eight weeks, and that if you are not happy with the response, or the firm does not get back to you, you can bring the complaint to it¹⁴. On gambling-related harm, logbook loans, goods and services bought on credit, personal accident insurance, home insurance and buy now pay later, the same wording appears: no final response within eight weeks, or an unsatisfactory one, and the complaint can come to the ombudsman¹⁵.

Independent guidance points the same way. On equity release complaints, if a complaint has not been resolved after eight weeks you contact the Financial Ombudsman Service²¹. On travel insurance claims, if you are not satisfied after eight weeks you can escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service²². On complaints about a bank or building society, the bank has up to eight weeks to deal with your complaint²³.

The service is free to consumers. It states that bringing a complaint to it is straightforward and will not cost you anything⁴. That matters when a claims management company offers to handle the same complaint for a fee: the ombudsman route is available to you directly.

The same eight weeks for energy, phone and broadband complaints

Outside financial services the pattern holds, with one variation. The Energy Ombudsman takes a complaint after eight weeks, or six weeks if you are an SSE customer⁵. Age UK's guidance says to contact the Energy Ombudsman if a complaint has not been resolved after eight weeks, or six if you are an SSE customer⁵. National Debtline says that if you are not happy with the outcome of your complaint after eight weeks, you can take it to the Energy Ombudsman²⁴. Which? describes the trigger as going through your supplier's complaints procedure without resolution, or not being given a decision within eight weeks²⁵.

There is also a shortcut in energy: a deadlock letter. If your supplier sends a final response saying it cannot resolve the issue as you have asked, you can go to the Energy Ombudsman before the eight weeks are up²⁴. Once the Energy Ombudsman takes up a case, its decision comes within six to eight weeks²⁶.

Green Deal complaints follow the same eight-week line, with a choice of two schemes: if a complaint is not resolved within eight weeks of contacting your provider, you contact either the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Energy Ombudsman²⁷.

For phone and broadband, the eight weeks applies before a telecoms ombudsman can investigate. Guidance on mobile phone complaints states that you must wait eight weeks before the ombudsman can begin to investigate your complaint²⁸. A model letter for disputing a phone or broadband bill says that if no resolution is agreed before the eight weeks have lapsed, the complaint will go to a telecommunications ombudsman²⁹.

Estate agents follow the same rhythm. If you are not satisfied with their resolution, or eight weeks have passed since you first made the complaint, you can refer the matter on³⁰.

Before the eight weeks are up: what to do while you wait

The waiting period is not dead time. Keep a dated copy of the complaint you sent, because the eight weeks runs from that date³. If the firm acknowledges the complaint but does not answer it, the acknowledgement does not restart the clock.

You can also use the time to check which scheme covers the firm. The Financial Ombudsman Service handles financial businesses; the Energy Ombudsman handles suppliers; telecoms complaints go to a communications scheme; claims management companies go to the Claims Management Ombudsman⁶. If you are unsure which one applies, guidance on choosing an ombudsman sets out the routes³¹.

Free tools can track the dates for you. Resolver says it will remind you when you can escalate your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which it describes as possible after eight weeks or when you receive a final response from the financial organisation³². It is a free complaints tool, not a regulator or an ombudsman, and using it does not change the eight-week rule.

If the complaint is causing financial difficulty in the meantime, there is help. The Financial Ombudsman Service covers complaints about financial difficulties with mortgages, and says a firm should look into things and reply within eight weeks¹⁴. Free and impartial debt advice is available from National Debtline and Business Debtline, and Citizens Advice can check whether a financial service has followed the rules³³.

Where the eight-week rule does not apply

The eight weeks is the norm, not a universal law. Some ombudsmen will let you get in touch before the eight weeks are up, but they will not begin any complaint resolution process beyond notifying the company concerned³⁵. So an early call or form may register the dispute without starting the clock on a decision.

Some schemes have their own triggers. In energy, a deadlock letter from your supplier lets you go to the Energy Ombudsman before eight weeks have passed²⁴. The same principle appears in warranty and boiler insurance complaints: you cannot raise a case with the ombudsman until eight weeks after you first raised it with your supplier, or until you have received a letter of deadlock stating the company cannot resolve the issue as you have asked³⁶.

Vehicle insurance complaints follow the eight-week rule strictly: the Financial Ombudsman Service will only accept a case eight weeks after the issue was raised as a complaint with the insurance provider³⁸. Savings account complaints about incorrectly calculated interest, and investment complaints about mis-sold structured products, carry the same eight-week wait³⁹.

There are also complaints that go to a different kind of body altogether. Council complaints go to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, where you normally need to make contact within 12 months of realising the council has done something wrong⁴¹. That is a different deadline for a different scheme, and the eight-week rule does not govern it.

Finally, the eight weeks is the earliest point for escalation, not the only deadline. The Financial Ombudsman Service normally expects complaints to be brought within six months of the firm's final response, alongside long-stop limits of six years from the event or three years from when the reader could reasonably have known about it. Those limits are covered in more detail on Financial Ombudsman time limits.