What to do in cases of financial mis-selling

Have you been sold a product that is not right for you? Here is what you should do about it.

09:57 21 September 2013

When you purchase a product from any financial company which gave you false information so you may think that the product suits your needs, you may file for a complaint and could be given compensation for it. Moreover, if you are not satisfied with their explanation, the Financial Ombudsman Service or Pensions Ombudsman shall take your case and analyse your complaint at no cost. 

What you should do when there is a case of Mis-selling?

1. Get the details of the sale

There is no need to gather solid evidence of the mis-selling. All you need to do is explain the situation.

• Get all the important details of the transaction including receipt
• Make sure your complaint is easy to understand and true

2. Make known of your disappointment to the provider or adviser

Every company has a unit which processes complaints. You must ask for a copy of the company’s unit, which will process your complaint so you know whom to contact. You may also find this information from their website. 

The company will be given eight weeks to answer or acknowledge your complaint. If they fail to do so, you may directly seek the assistance of the ombudsman service.
If they do reply and you are not satisfied with their explanation, you have six months to escalate the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, or three years since you made the complaint to the Pensions Ombudsman.

However, if the company has ceased operation, you may still be able to get compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.  

3. Seek the assistance of an ombudsman service to conduct investigation on the matter

If the company’s explanation is not satisfactory for you, you can escalate the matter with the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Pensions Ombudsman if your concern is pension-related; but you need to verify first with the Pensions Advisory Service if your case is a pension-related matter.

The Ombudsman shall investigate your case at no cost. Usually, the decision of the Ombudsman will be the final resolution to your case, unless otherwise you still want to bring it to court where there is no assurance the decision will be in your favour.