The impact of Brexit on complaints
This page provides information about the impact of Brexit on complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
What does Brexit mean for the Financial Ombudsman Service and its customers
The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020 and entered into a transition period. The transition period ended at 11pm on 31 December 2020.
If you’re a UK-based customer of a UK firm, you will continue to have the same access to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
However, if you’re a UK-based customer of a firm based in the European Economic Area (EEA) that’s operating in the UK under the temporary permissions regime (TPR), or under the financial services contracts regime (FSCR), you should be able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service, whether or not the firm has a branch in the UK.
If you’re unsure whether you can bring a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, you can ask the financial business involved – or you can get in touch with us.
Common questions about the impact of Brexit
We provide more detail about the expected position in relation to a range of situations:
-
We do not anticipate any change to how the Financial Ombudsman Service handles complaints that have already been referred to our service. We will be able to continue looking at your complaint as we were before.
-
Yes, if we were able to look at a complaint before Brexit, we will still be able to look at it afterwards, even if the business is established in the EU. Some EU businesses were not in our jurisdiction before Brexit though, so you may need to check.
-
This will depend on the circumstances. If the business is operating in the UK, it should have joined the FCA’s temporary permissions regime (TPR) or be part of the financial services contracts regime (FSCR). If it has joined the TPR, then customers will be able to refer complaints to us.
Businesses in the FSCR that were previously in our jurisdiction should remain in our jurisdiction, but if we couldn’t look at complaints about these businesses before Brexit, then we will not be able to do so now. More information can be found on the FCA’s website.
-
If an EU firm is doing business in the UK, then it will need to be part of the FCA’s temporary permissions regime (TPR). Customers will be able to refer their complaints to us where it relates to something the business did or didn’t do after Brexit. More information is available on the FCA’s website.
-
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has provided information on its website about what the UK's withdrawal from the EU means for FSCS protection.
Find out more
- Updates on Brexit and the end of the EU withdrawal transition period can be found on the FCA's website.
- These updates include information for consumers and small businesses on how Brexit may have affected financial product and servicesand considerations for firms after the transition period.
- More details are also available from HM Treasury.
