Getting Spread Betting Losses Back Through a Complaint

A losing spread bet is not, by itself, a reason for a refund. The Financial Ombudsman Service has looked at complaints from people who lost money on spread betting platforms and decided that the firm was not at fault, and in one case it said it was not fair for the business to erase the trading losses the customer had run up¹. So the starting point is blunt: the market moving against you is your risk, not the firm's mistake.

What can be complained about is how the firm behaved. If you lost money because of bad advice, wrong or misleading information, or poor administration, you can complain about the adviser or firm that gave you the advice³. The ombudsman service handles complaints where a customer lost money through an admin error, a delayed transfer or payment, wrong investment advice, or misleading information that led to an unsuitable investment⁴. A spread betting complaint has to be built on one of those grounds, not on the outcome of the bet.

The route is free and it has a fixed order. You complain to the firm first, and if you are unhappy with the answer, or eight weeks pass without one, you take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service⁶. The ombudsman can tell a firm to put things right and to pay compensation for financial loss, distress and inconvenience⁸.

When a spread betting loss can be the basis of a complaint

The dividing line is between a loss you took on and a loss the firm caused. A complaint stands up where the firm's own conduct produced the loss: advice that was wrong, information that misled you, or administration that went wrong³. The ombudsman service describes the kind of case it can help with as one where you lost money because your adviser or investment company made an admin error, delayed a transfer or payment, gave you wrong investment advice, or gave you misleading information that led you to an unsuitable investment⁴.

That framing matters for spread betting because the product is a bet on a price movement, and the firm's job is to execute it and explain it, not to make the market go your way. Where the complaint is that the firm did not explain the nature of the trade properly, that is a conduct complaint and it can be examined on its merits¹². Where the complaint is that the position moved and the loss followed, there is no conduct to examine.

The ombudsman service also handles complaints about account closures, disputed transactions, IT failures and problems with switching services¹³. Those are the mechanics of running an account rather than the trading itself, and they can arise on a spread betting platform as much as anywhere else. If a platform's systems failed, or a transaction was disputed, that is a different complaint from a bad trade.

Grounds that complaints are usually built on

Complaints that succeed tend to rest on a small number of grounds, and the ombudsman service names them in its own guidance. The first is wrong or misleading information: where a customer was given information that was misleading, the complaint can be looked at on that basis¹⁴. The second is misrepresentation, which is the legal ground the service uses when it examines a mis-sold product complaint¹⁵. The third is poor administration, which covers errors and delays rather than advice⁴.

The basis of a claim is the civil liability you rely on when bringing it, for example negligence, breach of contract, misrepresentation or breach of the FCA Rules¹⁶. That is the language the Financial Services Compensation Scheme uses, and it is a useful way to think about any complaint: what duty did the firm owe, and how did it fall short? A complaint that cannot answer that question is a complaint about losing, not about being wronged.

Where a term in a contract is unfair or not sufficiently transparent and that also amounts to a breach of the rules causing loss to consumers, the FCA can apply to court for restitution or require restitution¹⁷. That is a regulator's power rather than a consumer's route, but it shows the kind of conduct that counts: terms that were not clear, or that operated unfairly.

The ombudsman service publishes complaint volumes by product, which gives a sense of where complaints cluster. In the first quarter of 2026/27 it recorded 250 complaints about share dealings, 61 about investment platforms and 42 about investment trusts¹⁸. Spread betting does not appear as its own line in that data, which is a reminder that the volume of complaints in this area is small relative to mainstream products.

Losses a complaint will not recover

Some losses are simply not recoverable through a complaint, and it is worth being clear about which. In one case a customer complained that a spread betting company had not explained the nature of a trade properly; the ombudsman concluded that the company was not at fault for the misunderstanding and did not uphold the complaint¹². In another, a customer ran up debts and expected the investment firm to help; the ombudsman did not think it was fair for the business to erase the trading losses he had incurred².

The pattern is consistent: where the loss is the trading loss itself, the ombudsman has not required firms to write it off. A complaint is not a mechanism for reversing a position that went the wrong way, and the service will say so.

There is also a limit on recovering the same loss twice. Where a Section 75 claim is available on a credit card purchase, you cannot recover your losses from both the card issuer and the firm¹⁹. Double recovery is not permitted, so a complaint has to identify a single loss and a single route to it.

Complaining to the spread betting firm first

Every route starts with the firm. The ombudsman service is explicit that before bringing a complaint to it, the first step is to complain to the company involved⁶. The same order applies across financial products: the company hears what the complaint is about and why, and only if the response is not satisfactory does the complaint go further²⁰. The Information Commissioner's Office sets out the same first step where the complaint is about how an organisation handled a request about personal data: complain to it first²¹.

Do it in writing and do it promptly. Independent guidance is to contact the company straight away if something has gone wrong²², and complaints need something in writing to back them up²³. Keep the trade confirmations, the platform messages, the emails and any notes of calls. If information held about you is wrong, you have the right to have it corrected²¹.

Set out what happened, when, what you were told, and what you say the firm got wrong. If the complaint is that the trade was not explained properly, say what you were told and what you were not told. If it is an administration failure, give the dates and the amounts. The clearer the link between the firm's conduct and the loss, the easier it is for anyone reviewing it to follow.

How long the firm has to answer

For most complaints, a business has up to eight weeks to consider a complaint⁷. The same eight-week period appears across products: a business has eight weeks to answer a complaint about PPI²⁴, and a credit union has eight weeks to investigate and give a final response²⁵.

Eight weeks is the point at which the clock runs out for the firm and the complaint becomes eligible for the ombudsman service. If the firm answers sooner and you are unhappy with the answer, you do not have to wait for the eight weeks to expire. If the firm does not answer at all within the period, that itself is a reason to escalate.

Keep a note of the date you complained. That date is what establishes whether the firm has had its eight weeks, and it is the first thing anyone reviewing the file will ask about.

Taking it to the Financial Ombudsman Service

The ombudsman service is free. It says its service is free and easy to use¹⁰, that bringing a complaint is straightforward and will not cost you anything²⁶, and that it is free for consumers²⁷. There is no charge to you at any stage, and no fee for the firm to answer a complaint you bring.

What it can do is tell the firm to put things right. If it thinks you have lost money because you received the wrong advice, it will tell the financial adviser or insurance company to put things right, and it may also tell them to pay compensation for distress or inconvenience⁸. Where the problem was an admin error, it will tell the firm to compensate you for any financial loss, as well as for distress and inconvenience⁹.

The service covers a wide range of financial complaints, including investments, insurance, banking and payments, credit and mortgages⁴. It also handles complaints that involve gambling-related harm⁶. Its decisions are made on what is fair and reasonable in the circumstances, not only on what the paperwork says.

Is there a time limit for complaining?

Time limits exist, and they can end a complaint before it is looked at. The rules differ by product, so the limit that applies to a spread betting complaint is not necessarily the one that applies elsewhere. The clearest published example is mortgage endowments, where the time limit ends three years from the date of the high risk warning letter, provided the customer has been given a final date to complain by³⁰. The customer must have been notified of that final date at least six months before the time limit expires³⁰.

There is also a rule about letters that send mixed messages. Where a letter contains a high risk warning of a shortfall but the projections show an expected surplus, the three-year time limit will not usually apply³⁰. That is a narrow exception, but it shows that the starting point for the clock is not always obvious.

Out-of-time complaints can still be considered where there were exceptional circumstances, for example if the customer was incapacitated³⁰. If you think a time limit has passed, it is still worth setting out why, because the service can consider complaints made out of time in those circumstances.

If the firm has failed: FSCS and other routes

If the spread betting firm itself has failed and cannot pay what it owes, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme may be able to help. The scheme pays compensation if your financial services provider fails and cannot pay back your money itself³¹. It covers a range of financial products if a UK-authorised financial firm fails, including deposits, insurance, investments, pensions, mortgage advice and certain other regulated services¹¹.

There are limits to that cover, and they matter here. The scheme does not cover cases where a payments firm itself fails, although it may look through a payments firm to compensate its customers if the firm's UK safeguarding bank fails³². Its deposit sub-scheme covers claims against failed deposit-taking firms such as banks, building societies and credit unions³³, which is a different kind of firm from a spread betting provider.

If you are unsure whether an activity is protected, the scheme's own advice is to ask the firm to confirm that the activity it is carrying out for you is a regulated activity and under what circumstances protection would apply if the firm failed³⁴. That question is worth asking before you trade, not after.

If your claim is rejected, or until you accept compensation, you are free to pursue the firm or any third party yourself¹¹. So a rejection by the scheme does not close off every route. Where the firm is still trading, the complaint route through the firm and then the ombudsman service remains open, and the scheme's own guidance for pension transfer claims follows the same order: complain to the adviser first if it is still trading, and contact the ombudsman service; the scheme handles claims where the adviser has failed³⁵.

Should I use a claims management company?

You do not need to pay anyone to bring a spread betting complaint, because the ombudsman service is free¹⁰. A claims management company is a business that takes a fee for handling a complaint on your behalf, and the same complaint can be brought directly at no cost.

If you do choose to use one, there are standards it should meet. Where a claims management company handles a car finance complaint, it should fully explain the temporary complaint handling rules that apply and make sure its advertising is not misleading³⁷. Those are the expectations the guidance sets out for that type of complaint, and they illustrate the general point that a claims firm should be clear about what it is doing and what it is charging.

Cold calls about claims are a warning sign. Complaints about nuisance calls can be referred to the Information Commissioner's Office, which handles complaints about fraud and scams³⁸. If someone contacts you out of the blue about recovering spread betting losses, treat it as a reason to check before agreeing to anything.

What evidence to keep

Documentation is what carries a complaint. Complaints need something in writing to back them up²³, so the file you build at the start is the file that decides the outcome.

Keep the account statements showing the trades and the losses, the platform messages and emails, any recorded calls or your own notes of them, and the firm's final response. If the complaint is about what you were told, the record of what was said is the heart of it. If it is about administration, the dates and amounts are.

If information held about you is wrong, you have the right to have it corrected²¹. That matters where a firm's records misstate what happened, because a correction can change the picture a complaint is built on.

Where to get help

The Financial Ombudsman Service is free and handles complaints across investments, insurance, banking, credit and mortgages¹⁰. It also handles complaints involving gambling-related harm⁶. MoneyHelper offers free guidance on money matters²⁵, and debt advice charities can help where losses have led to problem debt³⁶.

If a firm has failed, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme is the route for compensation, and it covers deposits, insurance, investments, pensions and mortgage advice where a UK-authorised firm fails¹¹. If you are unsure whether an activity is protected, ask the firm to confirm whether it is a regulated activity and when protection would apply³⁴.