DISP 2 Jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service

This chapter applies to the Ombudsman and to respondents.

This chapter applies to any TP firm who is or was, at the time of the act or omission, giving rise to the claim against it, a TP firm. This rule demonstrates the contrary intention under GEN 2.2.26R.

In relation to a relevant motor finance DCA complaint or a motor finance non-DCA complaint:

1. (1)

   DISP 2.8.1R(2);

2. (2)

   DISP 2.8.1R(4)(a); and

3. (3)

   DISP 2.8.2R(1),

apply as modified by DISP App 5.

The Ombudsman can consider a complaint under the Compulsory Jurisdiction if it relates to an act or omission by a firm in carrying on one or more of the following activities:

1. (1)

   regulated activities (other than auction regulation bidding, administering a benchmark and dealing with unwanted asset money);

2. (1A)

   payment services;

3. (1B)

   [deleted]

4. (1C)

   CBTL business;

5. (2)

   [deleted]

6. (3)

   lending money secured by a charge on land;

7. (4)

   lending money (excluding restricted credit where that is not a credit-related regulated activity );

8. (5)

   paying money by a plastic card (excluding a store card where that is not a credit-related regulated activity );

9. (6)

   providing ancillary banking services;

10. (7)

    offering and/or issuing of investments by ISPVs;

11. (8)

    giving non-personal recommendation advice;

or any ancillary activities, including advice, carried on by the firm in connection with them.

The Ombudsman can also consider a complaint under the Compulsory Jurisdiction if it relates to an act or omission by:

1. (1)

   an investment firm authorised under the UK provisions which implementedMiFID when providing investment services or ancillary services;

2. (2)

   a CRD credit institution when providing one or more investment services;

3. (3)

   an investment firm authorised under the UK provisions which implementedMiFID or a CRD credit institution when selling structured deposits to clients, or advising clients on them;

4. (4)

   a collective portfolio management investment firm when providing the activities permitted by the UK provisions which implemented article 6(3) of the UCITS Directive; and

5. (5)

   a collective portfolio management investment firm when providing the activities permitted by the UK provisions which implemented article 6(4) of the AIFMD.

[Note: see article 1(1), 1(3) and 1(4) and article 75 of MiFID]

The Ombudsman can consider a complaint under the Compulsory Jurisdiction if it relates to an act or omission by a payment service provider in carrying on:

1. (1)

   payment services; or

2. (2)

   credit-related regulated activities;

or any ancillary activities, including advice, carried on by the payment service provider in connection with them.

The Ombudsman can consider a complaint under the Compulsory Jurisdiction if it relates to an act or omission by an electronic money issuer in carrying on:

1. (1)

   issuance of electronic money; or

2. (2)

   credit-related regulated activities;

or any ancillary activities, including advice, carried on by the electronic money issuer in connection with them.

The Ombudsman can consider a complaint under the Compulsory Jurisdiction if it relates to an act or omission by a CBTL firm in carrying on CBTL business or any ancillary activities, including advice, carried on by the CBTL firm in connection with its CBTL business.

The Ombudsman can consider a complaint under the Compulsory Jurisdiction if it relates to an act or omission by a designated credit reference agency in carrying on:

1. (1)

   the activity of providing credit information under the Small and Medium Sized Business (Credit Information) Regulations; or

2. (2)

   any ancillary activities, including advice, carried on by the designated credit reference agency in connection with the activity in (1).

The Ombudsman can consider a complaint under the Compulsory Jurisdiction if it relates to an act or omission by a designated finance platform in carrying on:

1. (1)

   the activity of providing specified information under the Small and Medium Sized Business (Finance Platforms) Regulations; or

2. (2)

   any ancillary activities, including advice, carried on by the designated finance platform in connection with the activity in (1).

A complaint about an authorised professional firm cannot be handled under the Compulsory Jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service if it relates solely to a non-mainstream regulated activity and can be handled by a designated professional body.

The Voluntary Jurisdiction covers an act or omission that occurred before the VJ participant was participating in the Voluntary Jurisdiction, and whether the act or omission occurred before or after commencement, either:

1. (1)

   if the complaint could have been dealt with under a former scheme; or

2. (2)

   under the agreement by the VJ participant in the Standard Terms.

1. (1)

   The Compulsory Jurisdiction covers complaints about the activities of a firm (including its appointed representatives), of a payment service provider (including agents of a payment institution), of an electronic money issuer (including agents of an electronic money institution), of a CBTL firm, of a designated credit reference agency or of a designated finance platform which:

   1. (a)

      (except for regulated claims management activities and activities ancillary to regulated claims management activities) are carried on from an establishment in the United Kingdom; or

   2. (b)

      are carried on from an establishment in an EEA State, in the case of a TP firm, a TA EMI firm, a TA PI firm or a TA RAISP firm with respect to services provided into the United Kingdom; or

   3. (c)

      are, or are ancillary to, regulated claims management activities.

2. (2)

   [deleted]

3. (3)

   [deleted]

4. (4)

   [deleted]

5. (5)

   [deleted]

6. (6)

   [deleted]

The Voluntary Jurisdiction covers only complaints about the activities of a VJ participant carried on from an establishment:

1. (1)

   in the United Kingdom; or

2. (2)

   in the EEA or Gibraltar if the following conditions are met:

   1. (a)

      the activity is directed wholly or partly at the United Kingdom (or part of it);

   2. (b)

      contracts governing the activity are (or, in the case of a potential customer, would have been) made under the law of England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland; and

   3. (c)

      the VJ participant has notified appropriate regulators in the place in which the establishment is located of its intention to participate in the Voluntary Jurisdiction.

A complaint may only be dealt with under the Financial Ombudsman Service if it is brought by or on behalf of an eligible complainant.

A complaint may be brought on behalf of an eligible complainant (or a deceased person who would have been an eligible complainant) by a person authorised by the eligible complainant or authorised by law. It is immaterial whether the person authorised to act on behalf of an eligible complainant is himself an eligible complainant.

An eligible complainant must be a person that is:

1. (1)

   a consumer; or

2. (2)

   a micro-enterprise;

   1. (a)

      in relation to a complaint relating wholly or partly to payment services, either at the time of the conclusion of the payment service contract or at the time the complainant refers the complaint to the respondent; or

   2. (b)

      otherwise, at the time the complainant refers the complaint to the respondent; or

3. (3)

   a charity which has an annual income of less than £6.5 million at the time the complainant refers the complaint to the respondent; or

4. (4)

   a trustee of a trust which has a net asset value of less than £5 million at the time the complainant refers the complaint to the respondent; or

5. (5)

   (in relation to CBTL business) a CBTL consumer; or

6. (6)

   a small business at the time the complainant refers the complaint to the respondent; or

7. (7)

   a guarantor.

A guarantor shall be an eligible complainant only to the extent that their complaint arises from matters relevant to the relationship with the respondent referred to in DISP 2.7.6R(10).

To be an eligible complainant a person must also have a complaint which arises from matters relevant to one or more of the following relationships with the respondent:

1. (1)

   the complainant is (or was) a customer,payment service user or electronic money holder of the respondent;

2. (2)

   the complainant is (or was) a potential customer,payment service user or electronic money holder of the respondent;

3. (2A)

   the complainant is (or was) a payer in a payment transaction in relation to which the respondent is (or was) the payee’spayment service provider, provided the complaint relates to the respondent’s obligations under regulation 90(3) of the Payment Services Regulations;

4. (2B)

   the complainant is a person that has transferred funds as a result of an alleged authorised push payment fraud and both:

   1. (a)

      the respondent is (or was) involved in the transfer of the funds; and

   2. (b)

      the complaint is not a PSD complaint;

5. (3)

   the complainant is the holder, or the beneficial owner, of units in a collective investment scheme and the respondent is:

   1. (a)

      the operator of a scheme; or

   2. (b)

      the depositary of an authorised fund; or

   3. (c)

      the depositary of a charity AIF; or

   4. (d)

      [deleted]

6. (3A)

   the complainant is the holder, or the beneficial owner, of units or shares in an AIF that is not a collective investment scheme where the respondent is:

   1. (a)

      the AIFM of an unauthorised AIF (other than a body corporate); or

   2. (b)

      [deleted]

   3. (c)

      the AIFM or depositary of a charity AIF (other than a body corporate);

7. (4)

   the complainant is a beneficiary of, or has a beneficial interest in, a personal pension scheme or stakeholder pension scheme;

8. (5)

   the complainant is a person for whose benefit a contract of insurance was taken out or was intended to be taken out with or through the respondent;

9. (6)

   the complainant is a person on whom the legal right to benefit from a claim against the respondent under a contract of insurance has been devolved by contract, assignment, subrogation or legislation (save the European Community (Rights against Insurers) Regulations 2002);

10. (7)

    the complainant relied in the course of his business on a cheque guarantee card issued by the respondent;

11. (8)

    the complainant is the true owner or the person entitled to immediate possession of a cheque or other bill of exchange, or of the funds it represents, collected by the respondent for someone else's account;

12. (9)

    the complainant is the recipient of a banker's reference given by the respondent;

13. (10)

    the complainant gave the respondent a guarantee or security for:

    1. (a)

       a mortgage;

    2. (b)

       a loan;

    3. (c)

       an actual or prospective regulated credit agreement;

    4. (d)

       an actual or prospective regulated consumer hire agreement; or

    5. (e)

       any linked transaction as defined in the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (as amended);

14. (11)

    the complainant is a person about whom information relevant to his financial standing is or was held by the respondent in providing credit references;

15. (11A)

    the complainant is a person about whom information relevant to his financial standing is or was held by the respondent in providing credit information;

16. (11B)

    the complainant is a person about whom specified information was provided to a person in relation to a finance application;

17. (12)

    the complainant is a person:

    1. (a)

       from whom the respondent has sought to recover payment under acredit agreement or consumer hire agreement (whether or not the respondent is a party to the agreement); or

    2. (b)

       in relation to whom the respondent has sought to perform duties, or exercise or enforce rights, on behalf of the creditor or owner, under acredit agreement or consumer hire agreement in carrying on debt administration;

18. (13)

    the complainant is a beneficiary under a trust or estate of which the respondent is trustee or personal representative;

19. (14)

    (where the respondent is a dormant asset fund operator) the complainant is (or was) a customer of a bank or building society which transferred any balance from a dormant asset to the respondent;

20. (14A)

    (where the respondent is a dormant asset fund operator) subject to DISP 2.7.6AR(1), the complainant is (or was) a person to whom the proceeds of a long-term insurance contract were payable by an insurer, but which instead were transferred by the insurer to the respondent;

21. (14B)

    (where the respondent is a dormant asset fund operator) subject to DISP 2.7.6BR, the complainant is (or was) a member of a personal pension scheme which transferred any eligible pension benefits due to the complainant to the respondent;

22. (14C)

    (where the respondent is a dormant asset fund operator) the complainant is (or was) a person to whom an eligible CIS amount was owing immediately before it was transferred to the respondent by the authorised fund manager or depositary of an authorised fund;

23. (14D)

    (where the respondent is a dormant asset fund operator) subject to DISP 2.7.6AR(2), the complainant is (or was) a person for whom a firm was holding client money immediately before it was transferred to the respondent by that firm;

24. (15)

    the complainant is either a borrower or a lender under a P2P agreement and the respondent is the operator of an electronic system in relation to lending;

25. (16)

    the complainant is a client (where the respondent is an ISPV);

26. (17)

    the complainant is a customer of the respondent in relation to regulated claims management activity;

27. (18)

    the complainant is a customer of the respondent in relation to regulated pensions dashboard activity.

1. (1)

   DISP 2.7.6R (14A) does not include proceeds of a contract of insurance held in a lifetime ISA if their transfer to a dormant asset fund operator resulted in (or would result in) liability to pay a lifetime ISA government withdrawal charge.

2. (2)

   DISP 2.7.6R(14D) does not include client money held in a lifetime ISA if its transfer to a dormant asset fund operator resulted in (or would result in) liability to pay a lifetime ISA government withdrawal charge.

Benefits under a personal pension scheme in DISP 2.7.6R(14B) are excluded from being ‘eligible pension benefits’ if (or to the extent that) they are provided from sums invested in a with-profits fund.

In addition, an individual is an eligible complainant if:

1. (1)

   they have been identified by the respondent as a politically exposed person, a family member of a politically exposed person, or a known close associate of a politically exposed person; and

2. (2)

   their complaint:

   1. (a)

      is that such identification is incorrect; or

   2. (b)

      relates to an act or omission by the respondent in consequence of such identification.

The following are not eligible complainants:

1. (1)

   (in all jurisdictions) a firm, payment service provider, electronic money issuer, CBTL firm, designated credit reference agency, designated finance platform or VJ participant whose complaint relates in any way to an activity which:

   1. (a)

      the firm itself has permission to carry on; or

   2. (ab)

      the firm, payment service provider, electronic money issuer, CBTL firm, designated credit reference agency or designated finance platform itself is entitled to carry on under the Payment Services Regulations, the Electronic Money Regulations, the MCD Order, the Small and Medium Sized Business (Credit Information) Regulations or the Small and Medium Sized Business (Finance Platforms) Regulations; or

   3. (b)

      the VJ participant itself conducts;

and which is subject to the Compulsory Jurisdiction or the Voluntary Jurisdiction;

1. (2)

   (in the Compulsory Jurisdiction) a complainant, other than a trustee of a pension scheme trust, who was:

   1. (a)

      a professional client; or

   2. (b)

      an eligible counterparty;

   in relation to the firm and activity in question at the time of the act or omission which is the subject of the complaint.

2. (3)

   [deleted]

DISP 2.7.9 R (1) and DISP 2.7.9 R (2) do not apply to a complainant who is a consumer in relation to the activity to which the complaint relates.

The Ombudsman can only consider a complaint if:

1. (1)

   the respondent has already sent the complainant its final response or summary resolution communication; or

2. (2)

   in relation to a complaint that is not an EMD complaint or a PSD complaint, eight weeks have elapsed since the respondent received the complaint; or

3. (2A)

   in relation to a complaint that is an EMD complaint or a PSD complaint:

   1. (a)

      15 business days have elapsed since the respondent received the complaint and the complainant has not received a holding response as described in DISP 1.6.2A R(2)(a); or

   2. (b)

      where the complainant has received a holding response, 35 business days have elapsed since the respondent received the complaint; or

4. (3)

   in relation to a complaint the subject matter of which falls to be dealt with (or has properly been dealt with) under a consumer redress scheme:

   1. (a)

      the respondent has already sent the complainant its redress determination under the scheme; or

   2. (b)

      the respondent has failed to send a redress determination in accordance with the time limits specified under the scheme;

   unless:

5. (4)

   the respondent consents and:

   1. (a)

      the Ombudsman has informed the complainant that the respondent must deal with the complaint within eight weeks (or for EMD complaints and PSD complaints 15 business days or, in exceptional circumstances, 35 business days) and that it may resolve the complaint more quickly than the Ombudsman; and

   2. (b)

      the complainant nevertheless wishes the Ombudsman to deal with the complaint.

Where a respondent has chosen to treat a complaint in its entirety in accordance with DISP 1.6.2AR, notwithstanding that parts of it fall outside DISP 1.6.2AR, DISP 2.8 will apply as if the whole complaint were an EMD complaint or a PSD complaint.

The Ombudsman cannot consider a complaint if the complainant refers it to the Financial Ombudsman Service:

1. (1)

   more than six months after the date on which the respondent sent the complainant its final response, redress determination or summary resolution communication; or

2. (2)

   more than:

   1. (a)

      six years after the event complained of; or (if later)

   2. (b)

      three years from the date on which the complainant became aware (or ought reasonably to have become aware) that he had cause for complaint;

   unless the complainant referred the complaint to the respondent or to the Ombudsman within that period and has a written acknowledgement or some other record of the complaint having been received;

unless:

1. (3)

   in the view of the Ombudsman, the failure to comply with the time limits in DISP 2.8.2 R or DISP 2.8.7 R was as a result of exceptional circumstances; or

2. (4)

   the Ombudsman is required to do so by the Ombudsman Transitional Order; or

3. (5)

   the respondent has consented to the Ombudsman considering the complaint where the time limits in DISP 2.8.2 R or DISP 2.8.7 R have expired (but this does not apply to a “relevant complaint” within the meaning of section 404B(3) of the Act).

If a respondent consents to the Ombudsman considering a complaint in accordance with DISP 2.8.2 R (5), the respondent may not withdraw consent.

The six-year and the three-year time limits do not apply where:

1. (1)

   [deleted]

2. (2)

   the complaint concerns a contract or policy which is the subject of a review directly or indirectly under:

   1. (a)

      the terms of the Statement of Policy on 'Pension transfers and Opt-outs' issued by the FSA on 25 October 1994; or

   2. (b)

      the terms of the policy statement for the review of specific categories of FSAVC business issued by the FSA on 28 February 2000.

1. (1)

   If a complaint relates to the sale of an endowment policy for the purpose of achieving capital repayment of a mortgage and the complainant receives a letter from a firm or a VJ participant warning that there is a high risk that the policy will not, at maturity, produce a sum large enough to repay the target amount then, subject to (2), (3), (4) and (5):

   1. (a)

      time for referring a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service starts to run from the date the complainant receives the letter; and

   2. (b)

      ends three years from that date ("the final date").

2. (2)

   Paragraph (1)(b) applies only if the complainant also receives within the three year period mentioned in (1)(b) and at least six months before the final date an explanation that the complainant's time to refer such a complaint would expire at the final date.

3. (3)

   If an explanation is given but is sent outside the period referred to in (2), time for referring a complaint will run until a date specified in such an explanation which must not be less than six months after the date on which the notice is sent.

4. (4)

   A complainant will be taken to have complied with the time limits in (1) to (3) above if in any case he refers the complaint to the firm or VJ participant within those limits and has a written acknowledgement or some other record of the complaint having been received.

5. (5)

   Paragraph (1) does not apply if the Ombudsman is of the opinion that, in the circumstances of the case, it is appropriate for DISP 2.8.2R (2) to apply.

1. (1)

   In addition to DISP 2.8.1R and DISP 2.8.2R, unless one or more of the conditions in (2) below is met, the Ombudsman cannot consider a complaint which:

   1. (a)

      relates to the sale of a payment protection contract that took place on or before 29 August 2017; and

   2. (b)

      expresses dissatisfaction about the sale, or matters related to the sale, including where there is a rejection of claims on the grounds of ineligibility or exclusion (but not matters unrelated to the sale, such as delays in claims handling or administrative matters such as taking the incorrect amount of premium).

2. (2)

   The conditions are that:

   1. (a)

      the complainant referred the complaint to the respondent or to the Financial Ombudsman Service on or before 29 August 2019 and has a written acknowledgement or some other record of the complaint having been received; or

   2. (b)

      in the view of the Ombudsman, the failure to comply with the time limit in (2)(a) was as a result of exceptional circumstances; or

   3. (c)

      the respondent has consented to the Ombudsman considering the complaint where the time limit in (2)(a) has expired (but this does not apply to a “relevant complaint” within the meaning of section 404B(3) of the Act); or

   4. (d)

      the complaint:

      1. (i)

         is made on or after 29 August 2019;

      2. (ii)

         relates to the sale of a payment protection contract that was live as at 29 August 2017;

      3. (iii)

         is made following a full or partial rejection of a claim on or after 29 August 2017 on the grounds of ineligibility, exclusion or limitation

      and this condition applies only to the extent that the complaint relates to those grounds of rejection.