Everything about calling Financial Ombudsman Service from abroad
What the Financial Ombudsman Service does
The ombudsman describes itself as a free service set up by Parliament to resolve complaints about financial businesses. If it decides you have been treated unfairly, it says it has the power to put things right. Its consumer pages list banking and payments, credit and borrowing (including car finance and debt problems), how a bank handled a fraud or scam, insurance, investments, mortgages, pensions and annuities, pre-paid funeral plans and claims management companies.
Complain to the business first
The ombudsman asks you to complain to the financial business first and give it the chance to sort things out. For most complaints the business has up to 8 weeks; for fraud and scams, payment services and electronic money it has 15 days. Its final response should say how to take the complaint further. You can then go to the ombudsman if you are not happy with that response or have had no reply in time. The ombudsman says you do not need to pay a lawyer or a claims management company to represent you.
When to call 0800 023 4567
The online complaint form is, in the ombudsman's words, the easiest way to bring a new complaint, and the helpline is the alternative: you can speak to a customer adviser on 0800 023 4567. If your complaint is already with a case handler, their details are on the emails or letters they send you. Without a case handler yet, the helpline is the number to use, for example if your circumstances have changed, if you face severe ill health or financial difficulty and need to speak to someone urgently, or if you want to register for the online portal. The ombudsman says the line gets busy sometimes.
Calling from abroad
0800 023 4567 is a UK 0800 number, and the ombudsman's contact page says nothing about reaching it from outside the UK. For callers abroad it gives +44 20 7964 0500, and says it is happy to phone you back if you are worried about the cost of calling. For a complaint about a financial business based in another European country, it points to the FIN-NET network. The ombudsman gives its hours without a time zone.
What Losali does with this line
Losali is an independent dialler that works in a web browser. Your call travels over the internet and Losali's telecom carrier connects it to 0800 023 4567 in the UK, so the network you are on only carries data. There is no app to install and no UK SIM card to buy. You need a browser, a microphone and a stable connection.
- The business's final response, if you have one: the ombudsman will ask to see it.
- Your notes of calls, emails and events with the business.
- What you would like the business to do to put things right.
Other ways in
New complaints can go through the online form. Once a case is open, the Ombudsman Connect portal lets you follow it, message your case handler and send new information. Post goes to Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR; the ombudsman says its offices are not set up to see customers face to face. It can provide its complaint form in other formats or languages, and explains Relay UK and British Sign Language contact on its accessibility page.
What kind of number is this?
Freephone 0800 / 0808. Free to call from inside the UK. Losali shows the price before the call starts.