Case fees
Our service is free for consumers. We’re funded by a combination of levies and case fees which are paid by respondent financial businesses and professional representatives.
Each year we consult publicly on our proposed plans and funding arrangements for the financial year ahead.
The consultation includes the volume of complaints we expect to receive and resolve, and the amount we plan to raise through our levy and case fees. You can read more about this in our latest plans and budget.
About our case fees
Financial businesses – respondents and professional representatives – receive a case fee allowance, a discount of £2,000 for the financial year. The maximum case fee for respondents is £680 and £260 for professional representatives. Once the £2,000 allowance has been exceeded, you will see this, and the fees, on your account.
Most businesses have very few cases referred to us, meaning that most businesses don’t pay any case fees. For businesses that do pay case fees, the cost involved is likely to be much less than the legal costs of defending the case in court.
We publish separate information about the case fees that apply when we look at complaints about a service provided by claims management companies (CMCs).
When we do and don’t charge
We inform respondent businesses that a case is chargeable when it goes through to investigation. We will charge the fee when the case is resolved or closed.
Professional representatives referring a complaint will be charged when the case is closed at any stage.
Case fees only apply to cases referred to us by professional representatives where the complaint:
- falls within our compulsory jurisdiction, and
- has been referred to us on or after 1 April 2025.
The information below sets out – for both respondent financial businesses and professional representatives – how the case fee applies once we have resolved a complaint.
-
If there is a change in outcome
If we record that there is a change in outcome in favour of the consumer (the ‘complainant’) we charge respondent financial businesses a case fee of £680.
The case fee allowance provides a discount of £2,000 for the financial year. Once the allowance has been used, the case fee is payable regardless of whether or not a professional representative was involved.
If there is no change in outcome
Respondent financial businesses pay a case fee regardless of the outcome of a complaint.
However, if the complaint about your business was referred to us by a professional representative on behalf of the complainant, your fee will be reduced by £180 (to £500) if we didn’t find in favour of the complainant.
If the complaint is proactively settled
Respondent financial businesses pay a case fee regardless of the outcome of a complaint.
If you offer to resolve the complaint through our proactive settlement initiative, you will have to pay a case fee regardless of whether a professional representative was involved or not.
But the complaint will not be published as a case with a change in outcome in the business-specific outcome data we publish. It will be included in the separate proactive settlement figures instead.
If the complaint is outside of our jurisdiction
Respondent financial businesses pay a case fee regardless of the outcome of a complaint.
However, if the complaint was referred to us by a professional representative on behalf of the complainant, your fee will be reduced by £180 (to £500) if the complaint is found to be outside of our jurisdiction.
If the complaint is dismissed, withdrawn or abandoned
Respondent financial businesses pay a case fee regardless of the outcome of a complaint.
However, if the complaint was referred to us by a professional representative on behalf of the complainant, your fee will be reduced by £180 (to £500) if the complaint is dismissed, withdrawn or abandoned.
-
If there is a change in outcome
Professional representatives will be charged a case fee when we close the case. The case fee of £260 will be reduced to £80 if either:
- we’ve reached an outcome that’s more favourable to your client than the answer the respondent business gave at the final response stage, or
- the respondent business makes an offer that wasn’t available before the complaint came to us – and your client accepts it.
If the outcome changes after the case is closed, then the fee will be adjusted accordingly.
If there is no change in outcome
Professional representatives will be charged a case fee when we close the case.
If there is no change in outcome – to an outcome that’s more favourable to your client than the answer the respondent business gave at the final response stage – the full fee will apply. It will not be reduced.
If the complaint is proactively settled
When we close the case, the fee charged to professional representatives will be reduced to £80 if the complaint is resolved following an offer from the financial business through our proactive settlement initiative.
There is more detail on this in our policy statement.
If the complaint is outside of our jurisdiction
The case fee is payable and won’t be reduced if the complaint is found to be outside our jurisdiction, regardless of the reason we can’t look at it.
If the complaint is dismissed, or withdrawn or abandoned
The case fee is payable and won’t be reduced if we dismiss the complaint or the customer withdraws or abandons it.
When you receive an invoice
Respondent financial businesses will be invoiced after we close the case at investigation stage and above.
Professional representatives referring a complaint will be invoiced after we close the case at any stage
Our finance team will send the invoices at the end of the month the case is closed in.
You must pay the fee within 30 calendar days of the date when the invoice is issued – as set out in the Fees Manual 5.5C.9 R and in our policy statement (PDF 1MB).
Quarterly billing
From 1 April 2026, we charge our largest business customers quarterly in advance, based on the expected number of complaints for the quarter.
You can read more about our funding arrangements in our Plans and Budget 2026/27.
Questions about fees or the charging process
If we have said the case is chargeable, but you disagree, contact the Case Fee team by email at [email protected].
Let us know why you believe you’ve been charged the wrong amount and we will look into what has happened and explain whether or why a fee is due.
Other questions about the investigation or outcome of the case should be directed to the investigator who is handling the case.
When we review our case fees
We review our case fee arrangements each year – and consult our stakeholders about any changes we think might be necessary.
Each year we consult publicly on our proposed budget for the financial year ahead. This includes consultation on the amount we plan to raise through the levy, as well as on the proposed level of our case fee.
You can read more about the rules and legislation that govern our service, including how our funding is set up in the information we publish about our governance and funding.