Don’t get caught out by financial pitfalls
26 January 2026
As students return to university after Christmas, we are urging them to be aware of financial pitfalls and make informed choices.
PayPal (Europe) S.ar.l. et Cie, S.C.A (PayPal) is withdrawing from the Financial Ombudsman Service’s voluntary jurisdiction with effect from 1 December 2022. There will be an impact on the types of complaint we will be able to consider about PayPal.
As part of changes arising from the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, PayPal is withdrawing from our voluntary jurisdiction (VJ).
Our voluntary jurisdiction is a scheme that financial businesses can choose to join in order to allow the Financial Ombudsman to consider complaints about their activities where those activities are not otherwise covered by our compulsory jurisdiction. A financial business who joins our voluntary jurisdiction can also apply to withdraw from it at any time.
When PayPal joined the FCA’s Temporary Permissions Regime, it became subject to the Financial Ombudsman’s compulsory jurisdiction for complaints about services provided into the UK on or after 1 January 2021. PayPal’s withdrawal from the voluntary jurisdiction does not affect an otherwise eligible complainant’s right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service about an activity that PayPal undertook after this time.
What this means for making a complaint
If eligible complainants have a complaint about PayPal about events that took place before 1 January 2021, they must send us their complaint before PayPal leaves our voluntary jurisdiction on 1 December 2022, otherwise we may unable to consider the complaint.
This table summarises what this means for making a complaint about PayPal to the Financial Ombudsman:
|
When the activity you want to complain about took place |
Impact on your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman |
|---|---|
|
The activity took place before 1 January 2021 and you have already complained to the Financial Ombudsman |
Your complaint will not be affected by PayPal’s withdrawal from the VJ |
|
The activity took place before 1 January 2021 and you have not yet complained to the Financial Ombudsman |
If you have already complained to PayPal and PayPal has issued its final response letter, you must refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman before:
If you have not yet complained to PayPal, you should do so as soon as possible. |
|
The activity took place on or after 1 January 2021 |
Complaints about these activities will not be affected by PayPal’s withdrawal from the VJ |
Find out more
- Find out more about how to make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.
- Find out more detail about our voluntary jurisdiction.
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