FCA Handbook - DISP 1.10 Complaints reporting rules

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DISP 1.10 Complaints reporting rules

(1)
Unless (2) applies, twice a year a firm must provide the FCA with a complete report concerning complaints received from eligible complainants.
(2)
If a firm:
1. (a)
  has permission to carry on only credit-related regulated activities or operating an electronic system in relation to lending and has revenue arising from those activities that is less than or equal to £5,000,000 a year; or
2. (b)
  has permission to carry on only:
  1. (i)
    regulated claims management activities; or
  2. (ii)
    regulated funeral plan activities,
the firm must provide the FCA with a complete report concerning complaints received from eligible complainants once a year.
(3)
The report required by (1) and (2) must be set out in the format in:
1. (a)
  DISP 1 Annex 1R, in respect of complaints which do not relate to regulated claims management activity or any activity ancillary to regulated claims management activity;
2. (b)
  DISP 1 Annex 1ABR, in respect of complaints relating to regulated claims management activity or any activity ancillary to regulated claims management activity; and
3. (c)
  DISP 1 Annex 1ACR, in respect of complaints relating to regulated funeral plan activities.
(4)
Paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply to a firm with only a limited permission unless that firm is a not-for-profit debt advice body that at any point in the last 12 months has held £1 million or more in client money or as the case may be, projects that it will hold £1million or more in client money in the next 12 months.

A firm with only a limited permission to whom DISP 1.10.1R(1) and (2) do not apply is required to submit information to the FCA about the number of complaints it has received in relation to credit-related activities under the reporting requirements in SUP 16.12 (see, in particular, data item CCR007 in SUP 16.12.29CR). A firm with limited permission to whom DISP 1.10.1R (1) and (2) do not apply is also subject to the complaints data publication rules in DISP 1.10A.

Forwarded complaints

A firm must not include in the report a complaint that has been forwarded in its entirety to another respondent under the complaints forwarding rules.

Where a firm has forwarded to another respondent only part of a complaint or where two respondents may be jointly responsible for a complaint, then the complaint should be reported by both firms.

Joint reports

Firms that are part of a group may submit a joint report to the FCA. The joint report must contain the information required from all firms concerned and clearly indicate the firms on whose behalf the report is submitted. The requirement to provide a report, and the responsibility for the report, remains with each firm in the group.

Not all the firms in the group need to submit the report jointly. Firms should only consider submitting a joint report if it is logical to do so, for example, where the firms have a common central complaints handling team, the same accounting reference date and are all subject to the same reporting frequencies and submission deadlines.

Information requirements

(1)
Where a firm receives less than 500 complaints in a reporting period, Part A-1 of DISP 1 Annex 1 requires, for the relevant reporting period and in respect of particular categories of products:
1. (a)
  in Table 1, information about the total number of complaints received by the firm and the cause of the complaint;
2. (b)
  in Table 2, information about the number of complaints that were:
  1. (i)
    closed or upheld within different periods of time; and
  2. (ii)
    the total amount of redress paid by the firm in relation to complaints upheld and not upheld in the relevant reporting period; and
3. (c)
  in Table 3, information providing context about the complaints received.
(2)
Where a firm receives 500 or more complaints in a reporting period, Part A-2 of DISP 1 Annex 1 requires, for the relevant reporting period and in respect of particular categories of products:
1. (a)
  in Table 4, information about the total number of complaints received by the firm and the cause of the complaint;
2. (b)
  in Table 5, information about the number of complaints that were:
  1. (i)
    closed or upheld within different periods of time; and
  2. (ii)
    the amount of redress paid by the firm in relation to complaints upheld and not upheld in the relevant reporting period; and
3. (c)
  in Table 6, information providing context about the complaints received.

Part B of DISP 1 Annex 1R requires (for the relevant reporting period) information about:

(1)
the total number of complaints received by the firm;
(2)
the total number of complaints closed by the firm;
(3)
the total number of complaints:
1. (a)
  upheld by the firm in the reporting period; and
2. (b)
  outstanding at the beginning of the reporting period; and
(4)
the total amount of redress paid in respect of complaints during the reporting period.

DISP 1 Annex 1ABR requires (for the relevant reporting period) information about:

(1)
in Table 1, the total number of complaints received by the firm and the main focus of the complaint;
(2)
in Table 2:
1. (a)
  the number of complaints that were closed or upheld within different time periods;
2. (b)
  the total amount of redress paid by the firm in relation to complaints upheld and not upheld in the relevant reporting period; and
3. (c)
  redress in relation to the claims management fee cap, where this was done at the firm’s instigation rather than as the result of a complaint about the fee.

DISP 1 Annex 1ACR requires (for the relevant reporting period) information about:

(1)
in Table 1, the total number of complaints received by the firm and the main focus of the complaints;
(2)
in Table 2:
1. (a)
  the number of complaints that were closed or upheld within different time periods; and
2. (b)
  the total amount of redress paid by the firm in relation to complaints upheld and not upheld in the relevant reporting period.

For the purposes of DISP 1.10.2R, DISP 1.10.2-AR, DISP 1.10.2BR and DISP 1.10.2CR, when completing the return, the firm should take into account the following matters.

(1)
If a complaint could fall into more than one category, the complaint should be recorded in the category which the firm considers to form the main part of the complaint.
(2)
Under DISP 1.10.2R(1)(b), DISP 1.10.2R(2)(b), DISP 1.10.2-AR, DISP 1.10.2BR(2) or DISP 1.10.2CR(2), a firm should report information relating to all complaints which are closed and upheld within the relevant reporting period, including those resolved under DISP 1.5 (Complaints resolved by close of the third business day). Where a complaint is upheld in part, or where the firm does not have enough information to make a decision yet chooses to make a goodwill payment to the complainant, a firm should treat the complaint as upheld for reporting purposes. However, where a firm rejects a complaint, yet chooses to make a goodwill payment to the complainant, the complaint should be recorded as 'rejected'.
(3)
If a firm reports on the amount of redress paid under DISP 1.10.2R(1)(b)(ii), DISP 1.10.2R(2)(b)(ii), DISP 1.10.2-AR(4), DISP 1.10.2BR(2)(b) or DISP 1.10.2CR(2)(b), redress should be interpreted to include an amount paid, or cost borne, by the firm, where a cash value can be readily identified, and should include:
1. (a)
  amounts paid for distress and inconvenience;
2. (b)
  a free transfer out to another provider which transfer would normally be paid for;
3. (c)
  goodwill payments and goodwill gestures;
4. (d)
  interest on delayed settlements;
5. (e)
  waiver of an excess on an insurance policy;
6. (f)
  payments to put the consumer back into the position the consumer should have been in had the act or omission not occurred; and
7. (g)
  the refund of fees paid in excess of the claims management fee cap, and any amount which the firm had attempted to charge but which was written off or waived (before the customer paid it) on the basis that it would have exceeded the claims management fee cap.
(4)
If a firm reports on the amount of redress paid under DISP 1.10.2R(1)(b)(ii), DISP 1.10.2R(2)(b)(ii), DISP 1.10.2-AR(4) or DISP 1.10.2CR(2)(b), the redress should not, however, include repayments or refunds of premiums which had been taken in error (for example where a firm had been taking, by direct debit, twice the actual premium amount due under a policy). The refund of the overcharge would not count as redress.

Unless DISP 1.10.4AR applies, the relevant reporting periods are:

(1)
the six months immediately following a firm's accounting reference date; and
(2)
the six months immediately preceding a firm's accounting reference date.

If a firm is one to which DISP 1.10.1R(2) applies, the relevant reporting period is the year immediately following the firm's accounting reference date.

All firms' reporting period end on 31 December 2026 and the report provided in accordance with DISP 1.10.1R should only be a partial return covering the period since its previous report.

Information requirements

Reports are to be submitted to the FCA within 30 business days of the end of the relevant reporting periods through, and in the electronic format specified in, the FCA Complaints Reporting System or the appropriate section of the FCA website.

Where the FCA grants a person’s application for annulment of a cancellation or variation of its Part 4A permission under Schedule 6A to the Act and on the date of the annulment, the period for reports to be submitted to the FCA in accordance with DISP 1.10.5R has passed, the period within which the reports are to be submitted under DISP 1.10.5R does not apply. The person must submit such reports to the FCA within 30 business days of the date on which the annulment takes effect.

If a firm is unable to submit a report in electronic format because of a systems failure of any kind, the firm must notify the FCA, in writing and without delay, of that systems failure.

(1)
If a firm does not submit a complete report by the date on which it is due, in accordance with DISP 1.10.5 R, the firm must pay the administrative fee specified in SUP 16.3.14R.
(2)
The administrative fee in (1) does not apply if the firm has notified the FCA of a systems failure in accordance with DISP 1.10.6 R.

A closed complaint is a complaint where:

(1)
the firm has sent a final response; or
(2)
the complainant has indicated in writing acceptance of the firm's earlier response under DISP 1.6.4 R.

Notification of contact point for complainants

For the purpose of inclusion in the public record maintained by the FCA, a firm must:

(1)
provide the FCA, at the time of its authorisation, with details of a single contact point within the firm for complainants; and
(2)
notify the FCA of any subsequent change in those details when convenient and, at the latest, in the firm's next report under the complaints reporting rules.

Meaning of revenue

In DISP 1.10, references to revenue in relation to any firm do not include the amount of any repayment of any credit provided by that firm as lender.