Time limits

You usually need to complain to a business within:

• 6 years of your problem happening, or
• 3 years of becoming aware that you had cause to complain, or
• 3 years of when it would be reasonable to expect you to have realised you had cause to complain.

We may also be able to consider a complaint if there are exceptional circumstances that account for the delay.

A business has 15 days to consider complaints about:

• fraud and scams
• payment services such as bank transfers or direct debits
• electronic money for example, online money transfers, Apple Pay or travel money cards

For most other complaints, a business has 8 weeks to consider a complaint.

The business should send you their final response before these time limits run out. If you haven’t received a final response within the time limits, you can refer your complaint to us.

For complaints about motor finance, see our page about car finance commission complaints for consumers.

What the final response should say

Once the business has investigated your complaint, they will send you a final response. The final response will include:

• details of the outcome of your complaint
• how to take your complaint further if you remain unhappy

The final response should mention that you have the right to refer your complaint to us for the next 6 months.

It also needs to state whether the business agrees to us looking into the complaint if you bring it to us after the time limit runs out. If a business says they agree, they can't change their mind later.

You have 6 months from the date on the final response you receive from the financial business to bring your complaint to us. If you complain after the 6 months, we usually won’t be able to help. We can only help you if either:

• the delay is due to exceptional circumstances, for example, you were seriously ill during the time when you should have referred your complaint and we’re satisfied this prevented you from referring it
• the business didn’t send a valid final response
• the business agrees to us being involved after the 6-month time limit has passed.

If a business doesn’t consent to us investigating a late complaint, we will:

• look into what’s happened
• decide if we agree the complaint is out of time.

How to calculate when the 6-month time limit ends

The 6-month time limit starts from the date the business sends the final response. We then use calendar months to work out the end date.

If a business sent a final response on 7 May, you have until 7 November to refer the complaint to us.

If a business sent a final response on 30 August, you have until 28 February to complain to us since it’s not possible to have an end date of 30 February.

What counts as exceptional circumstances

If you can clearly show there were exceptional circumstances for missing the deadline, you may still be able to submit a complaint.

Examples of exceptional circumstances include:

• a period of serious ill health
• a bereavement at the time in question.

And we’ll need to be satisfied that these circumstances prevented you from referring your complaint to us.

These case studies will show you examples of when we considered whether the consumer’s reasons for late referral were exceptional circumstances:

• Consumer has a family bereavement in the six-month time limit 
• Consumer changes their mind about complaining to us
• A serious illness prevents a consumer from complaining on time