Which ombudsman? Choosing the right scheme for your complaint

When a company has let you down and its complaints process has gone nowhere, an ombudsman is usually the next step, and it is free. Official guidance describes an ombudsman as "a person who investigates complaints about organisations for free"¹. The catch is that the UK has several of them, each covering a different sector, and sending your complaint to the wrong one is one of the most common reasons for delay.

The single biggest factor in choosing is the sector the firm you are complaining about works in. Complaints about banks, insurers, lenders and most pension providers go to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Complaints about how a workplace pension scheme is run go to The Pensions Ombudsman. Energy suppliers, estate and letting agents, and many other traders each have their own scheme or redress route. This page maps the main schemes to the complaints they handle, explains the rules they share, and sets out what happens when a complaint lands with the wrong one.

The right ombudsman depends on the sector the firm works in

Ombudsman schemes are organised around industries, not around consumers. There is no single body that takes every complaint, so the first question is always: what kind of business am I complaining about? A bank, an energy supplier and an estate agent could each have mishandled a complaint in exactly the same way, and each would be dealt with by a different scheme.

For financial services, the route is set out in the rules. The FCA's handbook provides that consumers may complain to the firm and seek redress from it, and refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if the firm does not satisfy the complaint and it is appropriate to do so⁶. The FCA's own approach statement puts it plainly: when consumers have exhausted a firm's complaint processes and are dissatisfied with the result, they may, if eligible and within the ombudsman's jurisdiction, refer their complaint to the Ombudsman⁷.

One check matters before anything else with a financial firm: whether it is authorised. If you deal with a firm that is not authorised, or does not have permission for the activities you need, you will not have access to the Financial Ombudsman⁸. You can check a firm on the FCA Register, and the position is worse than it sounds, because an unauthorised firm also leaves you outside the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The Financial Ombudsman Service publishes its own plain summary of what it covers: bank accounts and bank cards, insurance for your home, car or travel, and problems with loans⁹.

The same sector-based logic applies outside finance. Energy complaints go to the Energy Ombudsman (or the Consumer Council in Northern Ireland), property agents to one of two government-approved redress schemes, and workplace pension administration to The Pensions Ombudsman. The sections below take each in turn.

Complain to the firm first: the eight-week rule and final response letters

Every ombudsman scheme shares one rule: you must give the business a chance to put things right before the ombudsman gets involved. If they don't send you a final response letter within eight weeks, or you're unhappy with their response, you can bring your complaint to us"². This applies across the products it covers, from buy now pay later to logbook loans and fraud markers².

The eight-week period is the maximum a firm has to resolve a complaint before you can refer it on. The ombudsman service has described this rule since at least 2003: a firm has a maximum of eight weeks to try and resolve a complaint¹¹. If the firm sends a final response sooner, you do not have to wait the full eight weeks; you can go to the ombudsman straight away if you are unhappy with what it says. The same rule appears in the service's guidance on mortgage difficulties: the firm should look into things and reply within eight weeks, and if you are not happy with their response, or they do not get back to you in time, you can bring the complaint to the ombudsman¹².

How a complaint moves from the firm to the right scheme

A "deadlock letter", sometimes called a final response, is the firm's own statement that it has finished its complaints process. It should tell you that you can now take the matter to the ombudsman. Firms are required to point you to the right scheme: insurance policy summaries must state that complaints may subsequently be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service or another applicable named complaints scheme¹⁴, and mortgage offer documents must include information on how to complain to the firm and whether complaints may be referred to the ombudsman¹⁵. Even a refused basic bank account application triggers a duty on the institution to tell the customer how to complain to it and to the Financial Ombudsman Service¹⁶.

The step-by-step process is the same whatever the sector:

1. Make a formal written complaint to the business, keeping a copy.
2. Wait for its final response, up to eight weeks.
3. If you are unhappy with the response, or none arrives in time, take the complaint to the ombudsman that covers that sector.
4. If you have gone to the wrong scheme, it should point you to the right one.

The Financial Ombudsman Service is funded by the financial businesses that consumers complain about¹¹, so using it costs you nothing. Our guide to making a complaint covers how to write to a firm in the first place, and taking a complaint to the ombudsman covers the referral itself.

Pension complaints: The Pensions Ombudsman

Pensions are where the choice of scheme confuses most people, because two different ombudsmen are involved and the line between them depends on who you are complaining about.

The Pensions Ombudsman is set up by law to investigate complaints about how occupational or pension schemes are run, where the dispute cannot be resolved between the parties³. The Pensions Regulator directs people there in the same terms: you can make a complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman if you are unhappy with how your employer or workplace pension scheme dealt with your situation¹⁷, including where payments to your workplace pension have gone missing¹⁸. The scheme now receives over ten thousand complaints every year¹⁹.

The Financial Ombudsman Service handles the other side: complaints about pension firms that are regulated by the FCA, such as personal pension providers. It received 7,494 pensions complaints in the year from 9 July 2024 to 8 July 2025, of which 509 came from outside the UK²⁰. The year before it received 5,616²¹, and in the year to 8 July 2022 it received 5,589²², so pensions are a large and growing part of its workload. In the first quarter of 2026/27 alone it opened 931 personal pension complaints²³.

And if you are unsure, you can bring the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, and if it thinks it should be dealt with by The Pensions Ombudsman it will let you know²⁴. Our comparison page on the Financial Ombudsman or Pensions Ombudsman sets the two side by side.

Before applying to The Pensions Ombudsman, you must first make a formal complaint directly with the relevant party, such as the trustees or manager of your pension scheme, the administrator or an employer⁵. Most workplace pension schemes call this an Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure⁵. You have the right to refer your complaint on free of charge once that process is finished²⁵. Applications must be made in writing, though the scheme can help in exceptional circumstances by phone, and MoneyHelper can help you complete the application⁵. You will need full details of your complaint together with the response, if any, from the party you believe to be at fault²⁶.

The Pensions Ombudsman runs its cases through four stages: Review, Informal Resolution, Formal investigation and Determination⁵. It will normally validate your complaint within one month. Complaints with a clear outcome are likely to be resolved within 18 months; complaints needing a formal investigation are likely to take more than 18 months⁵. In exceptional circumstances, such as severe financial hardship, serious or life-limiting ill health or bereavement, it may prioritise your case, with evidence required⁵.

Energy bills and switching: the Energy Ombudsman

Energy complaints follow the same pattern as finance: complain to the supplier first, then escalate. The Energy Ombudsman is independent and free to use, and has the power to force an energy supplier to take action, which could be practical steps, an apology or compensation²⁷.

One energy product crosses into the financial ombudsman's territory. If your complaint is about a Green Deal plan and it is not resolved within eight weeks of contacting your provider, you can contact either the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Energy Ombudsman²⁸. This is one of the few cases where two schemes genuinely overlap, and either can take the complaint.

Northern Ireland is different. Consumer complaints about energy suppliers there are dealt with by the Consumer Council, not the Energy Ombudsman²⁷. If you are unsure which body covers your supplier, the Consumer Council route applies to suppliers operating in Northern Ireland.

Car sales, repairs, warranties and car finance

Cars split into two complaint types, and the split follows the money. Anything that is a financial product, meaning insurance or finance arranged by a regulated firm, goes to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Anything that is the car itself, meaning how it was sold, repaired or warranted by a dealer, goes elsewhere.

Car and motorcycle insurance complaints rose to 4,100 in the first quarter of 2026/27, up from 2,800 in the same period in 2025²³. Motor insurance complaints in the same quarter numbered 25²³. The volume is not new: the ombudsman was already opening 6,267 motor insurance complaints a year back in 2008/09²⁹. Car finance, as a lending product, is equally within the Financial Ombudsman's remit, and the firm must tell you in its offer document how to complain and whether complaints may be referred to the ombudsman¹⁵.

For the vehicle itself, bought from a dealer, the route is different. Your statutory rights when you buy goods apply, and a dealer that refuses to engage can be pursued through the courts, including the small claims court in England and Wales. Building warranties on a home, incidentally, follow a similar pattern: the Financial Ombudsman Service can only look at a warranty complaint after the insurer has written a resolution or conciliation report, the report told the builder to do something by a deadline, and the builder failed to complete the works by the deadline or is insolvent or not co-operating³⁰.

Estate and letting agents: The Property Ombudsman and The Property Redress Scheme

Property agents, including managing agents, are required by law to belong to one of two government-approved redress schemes: The Property Redress Scheme, or The Property Ombudsman³¹. If you have a complaint about an estate or letting agent, the first step is to find out which of the two it belongs to, then use that scheme's own complaints process before escalating.

Housing complaints against landlords follow a different route again, and it depends on who the landlord is. For Right to Buy, official guidance says you may wish to raise your concerns with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman if your landlord is a local authority, or the Housing Ombudsman if your landlord is a housing association³². So the same complaint about a repair or a sale can go to three different bodies depending on the landlord's status.

Note that none of these property schemes is the Financial Ombudsman Service. A mortgage arranged through an estate agent's affiliated broker is a financial product and goes to the Financial Ombudsman, but the agent's conduct as an agent goes to the property redress scheme.

Time limits: three years is common, with a six-year backstop at some schemes

Time limits are where complaints most often fail, because they are counted from when you knew, or should have known, there was a problem, not from when you decided to complain.

It may be able to extend the time limit if something prevented you from complaining sooner, such as a serious illness or your complaint being tied up with another organisation such as the Financial Ombudsman Service, but it will need evidence of the reason for the delay³.

The Financial Ombudsman Service states it cannot help if you complain more than 3 years after you know there's a problem⁹. The Claims Management Ombudsman, which handles complaints about claims management companies, applies both limits: it may not be able to help if you complain more than three years from when you became aware, or should have become aware, that you had a reason to complain, or if what you are complaining about happened more than six years ago³³.

The six-year backstop has been consulted on formally. A review of the Financial Ombudsman Service set out a proposed rule that a complaint must be brought within six years from the event complained of, or, if later than six years, within three years from the date the complainant became aware, or ought reasonably to have become aware, of the event complained of³⁴. The government's response to that review confirmed that consumers will retain the ability to bring a complaint to the FOS where they have a complaint about a firm's compliance with a redress scheme³⁵.

Our page on ombudsman time limits covers these rules in more detail, and the eight-week rule explains the firm-side deadline.

What an ombudsman can award, and the limits

The Financial Ombudsman Service's award limits have risen over the years, and the limit that applies to your complaint depends on when the complaint was referred and when the events occurred:

The legislation behind these limits explains their shape. A money award may not exceed the monetary limit, but the ombudsman may, if he considers that fair compensation requires it, recommend that the respondent pay the complainant the balance³⁶. The monetary limit itself is such amount as may be specified, and different amounts may be specified in relation to different kinds of complaint³⁶. In other words, an ombudsman can recommend payment above the limit, but only the amount up to the limit is enforceable in the same way.

The Pensions Ombudsman does not work to a published cash cap in the same way. Its approach is to put you back in the position you would have been in if everything had been handled correctly, normally by directing the organisation at fault to take the steps needed to make things right³. Where a scheme has not followed its decision-making process correctly, it can direct the scheme to carry out the process again, but it will not generally direct a scheme to change its decision or reach a specific outcome³. For distress and inconvenience, it may make an award if poor administration caused significant distress and inconvenience as defined in its guidance³⁷.

Decisions, appeals and enforcement

An Ombudsman Determination from The Pensions Ombudsman is a final, binding decision, enforceable in court³. Its determinations are based on law, including pensions legislation, scheme rules and case law³⁷. Your complaint may be upheld, partly upheld or not upheld⁵. The only way to challenge a Determination is to appeal to the courts on a point of law⁵. If the ombudsman made a decision on a complaint that was outside its jurisdiction, that decision could be challenged through a process called judicial review, and a court could set the decision aside³.

The decisions are binding on the organisation at fault, not on you. If you disagree with the outcome, you do not have to accept it, but you cannot force a rehearing. You can, however, complain about the service you received: The Pensions Ombudsman requires any service complaint to be made within 3 months of the case closing⁵. Our page on disagreeing with an ombudsman decision covers the options.

Complaints can also be withdrawn, but if a complaint has progressed to the point where a provisional decision or opinion has been issued, the ombudsman may not allow withdrawal⁵. Oral hearings can be requested by anyone involved, the decision rests with the Ombudsman, and they are open to the public⁵. Determinations are not confidential and are usually anonymised⁵.

Two special cases are worth knowing. Only a personal representative can bring or continue a complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman on behalf of someone who has died³⁸, and the scheme will not provide any information about an investigation to anyone claiming to be a personal representative before it receives evidence of their appointment³⁸. For death benefit lump sums, the ombudsman can investigate whether the decision followed the correct process, and can direct the decision-maker to retake the decision, but cannot direct a decision-maker to reach a specific outcome, such as who to pay a death benefit lump sum to³⁷. The Financial Ombudsman Service, meanwhile, accepts complaints from the donor or granter if they have capacity, or from the attorney acting on behalf of the donor or granter³⁹.

Where an ombudsman cannot help

Every scheme has edges, and knowing them saves months. The Financial Ombudsman Service states that if it cannot help, it can provide details of other ombudsman schemes covering complaints like energy and housing¹³. So sending a complaint to the wrong scheme is not fatal: the scheme should redirect you, though you lose time.

The clearest boundary is authorisation. If you deal with a firm that is not authorised, you will not have access to the Financial Ombudsman⁸. The Pensions Ombudsman's exclusions include the State Pension: complaints about the State Pension, including the contracted-out deduction, need to go to the Department for Work and Pensions³, and the Financial Ombudsman Service likewise directs state pension complaints to the Pension Service²⁴.

The Pensions Ombudsman also cannot help with complaints about its own service in the same way as it helps with pension disputes: if you are unhappy with how it handled your case, the route is the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which can only look at complaints about process, not decisions⁵. And it is not a regulator: it cannot change the law, make wider changes to the pensions industry, or fine or punish organisations³.

Where an ombudsman cannot help at all, the remaining routes are the courts, including the small claims court in England and Wales, the simple procedure in Scotland and small claims in Northern Ireland, or, where a firm has failed, the FSCS. Our comparison of the ombudsman or small claims court sets out when each route tends to fit, and the wider consumer protection guide covers the full range of rights and remedies.