DISP App 3.2 The assessment of a complaint

This section applies to both step 1 and step 2.

The firm should consider, in the light of all the information provided by the complainant and otherwise already held by or available to the firm, whether (at step 1) there was a breach or failing by the firm or (at step 2) whether there was a failure to disclose commission.

The firm should seek to establish the true substance of the complaint, rather than taking a narrow interpretation of the issues raised, and should not focus solely on the specific expression of the complaint. This is likely to require an approach to complaint handling that seeks to clarify the nature of the complaint.

A firm may need to contact a complainant directly to understand fully the issues raised, even where the firm received the complaint from a third party acting on the complainant's behalf. The firm should not use this contact to delay the assessment of the complaint.

Where a complaint raises (expressly or otherwise) issues that may relate to the original sale or a subsequently rejected claim then, irrespective of the main focus of the complaint, the firm should pro-actively consider whether the issues relate to both the sale and the claim, and assess the complaint and determine redress accordingly.

If, during the assessment of the complaint, the firm uncovers evidence of a breach or failing, or a failure to disclose commission, that was not raised in the complaint, the firm should consider those other aspects as if they were part of the complaint, at step 1 or 2 as appropriate.

The firm should take into account any information it already holds about the sale and consider other issues that may be relevant to the sale identified by the firm through other means, for example, the root cause analysis described in DISP App 3.4.

The firm should consider all of its sales of payment protection contracts to the complainant in respect of re-financed loans that were rolled up into the loan covered by the payment protection contract that is the subject of the complaint. The firm should consider the cumulative financial impact on the complainant of any previous breaches or failings in those sales or, where relevant, any previous failures to disclose commission.