'Follow the Regulations'
Complain about a Claims Company
There are several ways to complain about a claims management company. It will depend on whether you contact the claims company or make a complaint to the Claims Management Regulator.
HOW TO COMPLAIN: You can make a complaint about poor service by telephone or by postal methods.
There is a specific complaints procedure to follow. You should contact either:
- The claims company.
- The Legal Ombudsman.
- The Claims Management Regulator (CMR).
The role of a claims management company is to help their clients make claims against financial services providers.
Claims companies help their clients with the legal process. They charge a fee for this service. That is one reason why you have some recourse if they give out bad advice or conduct. An example could be advising a claim for mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI).
Complaints about Poor Service
What if you are not happy about the service provided by a claims company? It might be the fees they charged you or the results of a claim. In this case you should make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.
- The first step is checking the complaints procedure of the claims company. You might download a copy from their website or request a copy from them.
- You can then administer an official complaint with the claims management company. That gives them an opportunity to solve the issue or correct the problem.
- Always keep records of the complaints and correspondence. The details in the communication could be important later in the process.
- Claims management companies have 8 weeks to resolve complaints made by clients. You should then contact the Legal Ombudsman if you are still unsatisfied.
Contact the Legal Ombudsman
cmc@legalombudsman.org.uk
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Minicom: 0300 555 1777
Monday to Friday: 8.30am to 5.30pm
Check a list of telephone call charges.
Complaints about Poor Conduct
What if you are not happy about the conduct of a claims management company? In this case you should make a complaint to the Claims Management Regulator (CMR).
Typical examples of poor conduct might include:
- Breaching claims company conduct rules. This is also known as 'Claims management regulation: Conduct of Authorised Person Rules 2014'.
- Making unsolicited phone calls or text messages.
- A breach of registration on the Authorised Business Register.
The Claims Management Regulator do not pay compensation. Nor can they order a claims management company to pay out compensation. They cannot force them compensate you even if you received poor service.
Note: The CMR will refer you to the Legal Ombudsman if the complaint is about receiving a poor service.
Contact the Claims Management Regulator
contactus@claimsregulation.gov.uk
Telephone: 0333 200 0110
Monday to Friday: 9am to 5pm
Claims Management Regulation Unit
Monitoring and Compliance Office
57-60 High Street
Burton on Trent
Staffordshire DE14 1JS
You can download a complaints form from the government website. Fill in the MS Word document and then email it or post it to the Claims Management Regulator.
Click here to download the 'Claims Management Regulator - Conduct report form'.
How to Complain about a Claims Management Company in the United Kingdom
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