Help & support

What can I expect if I complain?

We may be able to resolve your complaint straight away. If not, we will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint within 5 working days of receiving it. In this letter we’ll summarise your complaint so you can check we have understood it correctly and we will give you a complaint reference number to quote, so we can always find your information quickly when you contact us.

We would expect to complete our investigation within 8 weeks of receiving your complaint. If we cannot do this, we will get in touch with you by letter or email explaining the reason for the delay.

If you are not satisfied with the reason for the delay, you can refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. When we update you at this stage we will enclose a leaflet explaining how to do this.

When we have completed our investigation of your complaint we will write to you to provide our final response. This will be a detailed letter that outlines what we found, what we plan to do as a result, and why we arrived at our decision.

What do I do if I am still unhappy?

If you’re not satisfied with how we have dealt with your complaint or you are not happy with the decision we’ve taken and wish to take it further, you can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to look into your complaint for you. This is a free independent service for resolving disputes between customers and financial services institutions.

You can find out more on their website or by calling them on
0800 023 4567.

The Financial Ombudsman & The European Commission Online Dispute Resolution Platform

The Financial Ombudsman is a free service that looks into disputes between insurance companies and their customers. You can find out more or contact them directly using one of the links below. You have six months from the date of our final response letter to refer your complaint to them.

The European Commission also provides an on-line dispute resolution (ODR) platform which allows consumers to submit their complaint through a central site which will forward the complaint to the right Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme. In relation to Shepherds Friendly Society, this is Financial Ombudsman Service and you can go to them directly as shown in the contact details above. For more information about ODR please visit their website http://ec.europa.eu/odr

Contact the Ombudsman

Website:
www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Email:
[email protected]

Post:
The Financial Ombudsman Service,
Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR

Telephone:
0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9123