How to complain about your mortgage provider

1 Contact your lender

The first step is to send your complaint to the lender or mortgage intermediary (broker) in writing. 

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require your lender to send a written acknowledgement of your complaint within five business days.

Your lender should investigate your complaint thoroughly and make enquiries as appropriate. 

If you make your complaint in person or by telephone, note down the name of the person you speak to, as well as the date and time of your call or consultation.

If you don't hear back within three weeks, follow up your phone call or consultation with a letter detailing your complaint. 

Make sure you keep copies of the complaint letters that you send for future reference.

2 Contact the FOS

If the lender or broker cannot make a final decision on your complaint after a month, they must keep you informed. 

If you're not happy with the final response from them, you can refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

FOS provides a free and independent advice service for consumers who would like to make a complaint. 

Once the FOS has received your referral, it will take over the running of your claim on your behalf. 

3 Wait for FOS ruling

You won't need to do anything else unless the FOS requests further information.

It's important to note that the FOS has an extremely heavy caseload and as a result, your claim may take a substantial length of time to complete. 

Although the exact timeframe will depend on the complexity of your case, and how quickly the financial services provider responds to the FOS, it's not unusual for cases to take a year or more.

Our advice is to be patient and await the outcome from FOS.