Investments

When you invest you buy assets that you think will:

• be worth more in the future
• give you an income, or
• both give you an income and increase in value

We can help you resolve a problem with your investment, as long as the business you're complaining about is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).Financial Conduct Authority

You can check this by using the FCA RegisterOpens in new windowOpens in new window.

You may believe you were:

• advised to make an investment that wasn’t right for you, or
• misled or misinformed about an investment product

Or you may be unhappy about the company that manages your investment because you feel:

• you lost money because of administrative errors, or
• that you’ve been overcharged

If you’re unhappy with a financial adviser or investment management company, we may be able to help.

Our service is free and easy to use. 

You will need to make a formal complaint to the business first. If they don’t reply, or you’re not happy with their final response, you can contact us.

When you bring a complaint to us about an investment, it's our job to weigh up all the facts. We’ll make a decision about what happened using evidence from you, the financial business and any relevant third parties. We'll also consider:

• the relevant law
• any regulations that applied at the time
• any industry codes of conduct that were in force at the time

When we've finished investigating, we’ll tell you whether we think the business treated you fairly or not. And we’ll explain how we reached our decision.

If we think the business treated you unfairly, we'll tell them to put you back where you'd be if they hadn't made a mistake. We might also ask them to make an award for any distress and inconvenience caused.

Read our guide on how to complain for more information.

The time it takes for us to investigate a complaint depends on what it's about, how complex it is and how quickly we can get all the information we need. For most types of investments complaint, it takes one to two months for us to allocate cases, but it can sometimes take longer.

We’re working hard to reduce the time it takes to allocate cases for investigation, so you may hear from us sooner than this.

• If you’re facing financial hardship or severe ill health, please let us know.
• The Money Advice Service website has a list of online debt advice services where you can get immediate and personalised help, if you’re experiencing financial difficulties.

How long it takes

For more information about how we can help with a complaint about a specific type of investment product or service, use the links below.

MoneyHelper have a guide on investing, including information on what the different types of investment are and understanding risk.

Find out more about other complaint-handling organisations and  the types of complaint they look at.