Making Your Case Count.
Getting a win at the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) isn't about having the most dramatic story. It's about building a case that is impossible to ignore. The FOS deals with an enormous volume of complaints, so yours needs to be sharp, clear, and easy to understand. A submission that is well-prepared from the start is far more likely to succeed than a rambling, disorganised complaint. Following a few best practice rules can make all the difference.
The goal is to transform your complaint from a simple narrative of what happened into a methodical argument that proves how the company let you down. It’s about building your case brick by brick, so the investigator is left in no doubt about the merits of your claim.
Your Paper Trail.
Evidence is everything. Before you write a single word of your submission, you need to gather every piece of paper and every email related to your complaint.
This means finding the original agreement, all your statements, any letters the firm sent you, and your own notes of any phone calls.
Think of yourself as a detective building a case file. The more organised and comprehensive your evidence is, the more weight your arguments will carry.
A claim that is backed up by clear, dated evidence is infinitely more powerful than one based on memory alone. This paper trail is the foundation of your entire complaint.
Telling a Clear Story.
Once you have your evidence, you need to use it to tell a clear, chronological story. Don't jump around. Start at the very beginning and walk the investigator through the events as they happened. Putting events in a simple timeline is one of the most powerful things you can do.
You have to be laser-focused. What is the absolute core of your complaint? Were you given bad advice? Were the risks hidden from you? Was the service you received just plain incompetent?
Your job is to pinpoint these failures, spell them out in plain English, and use your evidence to prove each one.
Connecting the Dots.
While the FOS is not a court, showing that the firm broke the official rules laid down by the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), will make your case much stronger.
This proves the company didn't just treat you badly; it failed to live up to the professional standards it's supposed to.
A top-tier submission will connect the facts of your story directly to these rules. A great example is showing how their actions smashed the core rule about "treating customers fairly."
Doing this turns your complaint from a personal gripe into a documented case of them breaking the rules.
What Are You Asking For?
Finally, you must be crystal clear about what you want. This means calculating your financial losses precisely and explaining how you arrived at that figure. You can't just pluck a number out of the air; it needs to be based on the evidence.
Don't forget to ask for compensation for the non-financial impact, too. Spell out exactly how their mess-ups have impacted you personally.
This gives the FOS a clear picture of the real-world damage you've dealt with, helping them arrive at a proper figure for compensation.
Did you know that the FOS have a 75% rejection rate?
The Financial Ombudsman Service makes it easy to make a claim but doesn't tell you that their overall rejection rate is 75%. Some might say they are trying to protect the banks. We can help you increase your odds. Contact our team for a case evaluation today.
