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How to complain to your bank and win

Jane Baker
by Lovemoney Staff Jane Baker on 15 May 2010  |  Comments 8 comments

The big banks have a terrible track record for dealing fairly with customer complaints. This article will show you how to successfully fight back.

How to complain to your bank and win

If you’ve ever had cause to complain to your bank, you’ll no doubt know what a frustrating, bang-your-head-against-a-brick-wall exercise it can be.

In fact, the extent of poor complaint handling has recently been exposed by a Financial Services Authority (FSA) review of procedures at five large UK banking groups. The review covered around 70% of the total grievances received by the FSA, and 60% of those referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

I’m sure it won’t come as a huge surprise to hear the FSA has discovered unacceptable standards and serious weaknesses in the complaints procedures at all the banks investigated. Worse still, two of the five banks have been referred for further investigation.

Each bank is apparently making major changes to the way complaints are dealt with. But that’s of little comfort to those of you who are struggling to be taken seriously by your bank right now.

How to get your complaint taken seriously

There are steps you can take to up your chances of winning a complaint. In fact, there’s a right way - and a wrong way - to get your grievance across. Follow my top ten tips the next time your bank needs taking to task:

1. Find out about your bank’s complaint procedure - Under FSA rules all banks are required to have an appropriate complaints procedure. Ask to see a copy so you understand exactly how your complaint will be handled.   

2. Act now - Make your complaint as soon as things go wrong. The longer you leave it the harder it will be to remember all the relevant details you’ll need to strengthen your case. Don’t forget, certain financial complaints have time limits so don’t miss the opportunity to put in your claim for redress.

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3. Complain to the right person - Try to make your complaint to the person you originally dealt with. If that’s not possible, contact your bank and ask for an appropriate contact name to address your complaint to. Check their job title to make sure this is someone fairly senior.

4. Put your complaint in writing - You can complain by phone if you want to, but I think it’s far more effective to complain in writing. A written complaint is more likely to be taken seriously.

It’s important your letter includes certain information. First of all, don’t forget to include simple but important basics such as your account or policy number. You should aim to give a brief summary of your complaint in a clear and logical manner. Don’t get too bogged down with every minute detail. Explain why you’re unhappy about the situation, and what action you expect your bank to take to resolve matters.

5. Ask for redress - If you think you should be compensated for the treatment you have received from your bank, make sure you say so in your complaint letter. There’s no need to be specify amounts of compensation, but make it clear that's exactly what you expect to recieve.  

6. Be polite - Don’t ever be rude or abusive in any contact you have with your bank, even if you feel like you’re making little headway. It definitely won’t help your case. Keep calm and stick to the facts.

7. Give your bank a chance - Before you take things further, you’ll need to give your bank a reasonable opportunity to resolve your complaint. This timescale should be indicated in the bank’s complaint procedure. It’s highly unlikely you’ll get an immediate response, so be prepared to sit it out for a while.

8. Keep records - It’s important you keep copies of correspondence between you and your bank, and any evidence you have sent to back up your case. You may need to refer to this documentation later down the line.

9. Don’t be fobbed off ­- With a bit of luck your bank will respond to your complaint letter in a satisfactory way. If that doesn’t happen and you’re unhappy with the outcome, contact the person dealing with your complaint in writing again and inform them you’ll be referring the problem to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

Rachel Robson reveals some top tips for switching current accounts.

The FOS is an independent organisation which specifically resolves disputes between individuals and financial companies. Check out the FOS’s advice on how to complain. The FOS is completely free to use and may be able to help you claim compensation. But don’t be surprised if it takes some time to reach a resolution. If your complaint is complex it could take several months.

If you’re still not satisfied with the FOS’s final decision, you won’t be able to appeal. In this case it may be necessary to pursue your complaint through legal channels, but this will most likely incur legal fees.

10. Vote with your feet - After all this, you’ll probably have had more than enough of your bank. If you’ve lost faith, vote with your feet and switch. Moving current accounts is far more simple than you might think with some banks offering dedicated switching services. There are several high interest current accounts on the market - such as the Alliance & Leicester Premier Direct Account and the Santander Preferred In-Credit Rate Account - which are proving popular with consumers, which are certainly worth considering.

Do you have any tips on how to complain and win?

Ever fought a battle with a bank or company - and won? Tell us what happened and how you did it using the comments box below!

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Comments (8)

  • The Bank Manager
    Love rating 56
    The Bank Manager said

    bluegirl I take on board the sentiment of your comments and would I be correct in thinking that you might also work in finance (my own 'tag' is my giveaway!!)?

    If not, you do make a valid point, but I can also see the sense made by other contributors, as people can at times lose sight of delayed cheques coming through the system (I had one hit my account this morning, from mid-March).

    For that reason, people need to be savvy and check their accounts on-line, at a branch, from their mobile phone or even via a cash machine, as there are so many ways that Bank's keep customers informed and have done so, for many years.

    By actually managing your account, you can keep within an agreed overdraft limit (always have a nominal pot of money in a linked savings account, that you can transfer into the current account to stop any possible 'excesses') and that way you pay the barest minimum of charges - WHICH ARE PUBLISHED FOR ALL WHO USE THE SERVICE, TO SEE!

    Anyway, about complaints....

    I recently wanted to get a small amount of currency - £20 worth - (my youngun's school trip across the Channel), but my Bank failed to make clear how much the minimum was on the website and after finding I couldn't get the sum I needed and wasted 20 minutes trying to order by phone, I had to get it via a local branch the following day.

    A letter to our Customer Complaints department outlined the lack of detail on the website and that the person with whom I deal by phone (from the number quoted on the site), knew how much I wanted at the outset and then I found out after 20 wasted minutes I couldn't get it, plus the rate I paid in the branch was worse.

    They considered the points I made and credited my account with £20 compensation.

    The stance I chose, was to blame NO-ONE, but simply to highlight the problem to the Bank, so that they could get it right for other customers. Whilst we are staff, we ought to be counted as customers too, but that's my only differentiation!

    I felt that if they take this on board and it helps future Customer Service, the complaint handler would make their own decision to compensate me and my politeness and calm construction of the letter (your comments in this area are totally apt Jane), supported the outcome.

    The moral here folks, is that if you think your Bank is not doing something that is customer focussed and that's let you down - however trivial - write to them and express that it's for their Customer Service benefit and you just wanted to do your 'civic duty'.

    Who knows....you may make a quid or two??

    Report on 19 May 2010  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • kevinkcc
    Love rating 1
    kevinkcc said

    so bluegirl , who are you ? angela knight's asssissant ? she won't have a thing said about the banks .they're all so pure and however you do it , there's nothing wrong with taking money off people - no matter how you do it

    tell me this - what did it cost the bank say , in my case, to fund 12 for less than one month ? 170 pounds ? the difference between me and thousands of others holding bank accounts versus going into tescos and loading up your trolley and heading for the door is that between customers and the bank , there is some sort of contract . at the very least we all signed on the dotted line and supposedly they know us we didn't expect to get hit with aclub from a neanderthal

    banks should be reminded of a certain amount of social responsibility but no driven by the city to hoist that virility symbol their share price , they do all they can to enhance this .

    remember andrew buxton in the mid 90' scratching his head to wonder how the bank could make more money . eureka moment - charge the customers for everthing they used to have free for holding a bank account with money in it . they all rode off into the sunset and made a continuing fortune

    i'll repeat myself to head off the doubters - capitalism is perfectly alright but not in some of the forms we have to experience 

    Report on 25 May 2010  |  Love thisLove  0 loves

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