Complaints Procedure

We aim to provide you with a high-quality standard of service at all times. However, there may be occasions when you feel that this objective has not been achieved.​
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We are covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). They offer a completely independent review of your complaint when we have been unable to resolve it ourselves, so if you're not happy with our final response, you can ask them to review your complaint for you.
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Although you can refer your complaint to the FOS at any time, they'll ask for our permission to investigate complaints where:
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You haven't complained to us first, to give us the chance to put things right.
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You have complained to us, but we haven’t issued our Final Response yet, and we’re still within our timescales.
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You'll need to contact them within six months of the date of our summary resolution communication or final response letter.
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To contact the Financial Ombudsman Service:
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Call free on 0800 023 4567
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Visit the website and fill out the online form.
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Write to Exchange Tower, Harbor Exchange, London, E14 9SR.
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Please be aware that some complaints are not eligible for referral to the Financial Ombudsman Service (for example, inquiries relating to Buy to Let mortgages), and where this is the case, we will inform you when we send you our final response.
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We take all complaints seriously and will deal with your complaint in the manner outlined below:
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We will acknowledge your complaint promptly upon receipt, and we will also enclose a copy of these procedures.
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If you make an oral complaint, our written acknowledgment will set out our understanding of your complaint.
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If we have reasonable grounds to be satisfied that another firm may be solely or jointly responsible for the allegation(s) made, we will promptly forward the complaint or the relevant information.
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Part of it is the firm. We will write to you to confirm our actions and provide the contact details of the firm concerned.
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If your complaint cannot be resolved by the close of the next business day after receipt, we will ensure you are regularly kept informed of our progress on the investigation.
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We will endeavor to send you our Final Decision Letter addressing your concerns and providing our decision within 4 weeks, or to keep you informed of the progress of your complaint if it is not resolved before then.
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Where we are unable to provide you with our Final Decision Letter, we will send you written confirmation along with an explanation of why we have been unable to complete our investigations within this time scale. We will confirm when you can expect our next contact.
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Where we are still unable to complete our investigations within 8 weeks of your complaint, we will send confirmation in writing, along with an explanation of why we have been unable to do so within this time frame. We will confirm when you can expect our next contact. At this stage, you will be entitled to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which can be contacted as above. We will provide you with a copy of the Financial Ombudsman Service leaflet, ‘Your complaint and the ombudsman’.
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We will continue to investigate the complaint until we are in a position to send you our Final Decision Letter.
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If your complaint is upheld, we will provide you with fair compensation for any acts or omissions for which we are responsible.
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Once you have received our Final Decision Letter, if you are unhappy with our handling of your complaint, you can refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service at the address provided above. A copy of the Financial Ombudsman Service leaflet ‘Your complaint and the ombudsman’ will be included with our Final Decision Letter.​
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We shall deem the matter closed when;
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Our investigation has been completed, and a Final Decision Letter has been sent to you, or
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You have indicated, in writing, acceptance of any earlier response, where appropriate.
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Complaints Relating to Close Brothers Premium Finance (“CBPF”)
Any complaint relating to a customer’s premium finance agreement or the services provided by Close Brothers Premium Finance (“CBPF”) will be escalated and referred to CBPF promptly.
Where a member of staff receives an expression of dissatisfaction relating to premium finance, the matter will be immediately referred internally to management and/or the designated complaints handler for review.
Complaints relating to CBPF products or services will be forwarded to CBPF as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than two business days.
UK Sure Cookies Policy
​​Our website uses cookies, unique identifiers, and other similar technologies (together referred to as “cookies”) to provide our services to you and to help collect data. Cookies allow us to distinguish you from other users of our website and remember your preferences when you return to our website, providing you with an optimal browsing experience. Cookies also help us to improve our website.
By using our website, you consent to our use of cookies.
Definition - A cookie is a small file containing letters and numbers that are saved to your computer’s hard disk when you visit a website.
Different cookies are used to perform different functions. We use the following cookies:
Necessary cookies - These cookies are essential for us to use in order to operate our website.
They include (but are not restricted to), cookies that enable you to log in to secure areas of our website.
Performance cookies – These cookies allow us to recognize and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website. This helps us to improve the way our website performs e.g. ensuring our clients are able to find what they are looking for easily.
Functionality cookies - These cookies are used to recognize you when you return to our website and enable us to personalize our content for you.
Targeting cookies - These cookies record your visit to our website and the pages and links you have visited and clicked. We use this information to make our website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests and may also share this information with third parties for this purpose. Our servers automatically obtain your domain name and IP address. The domain name and IP address reveal nothing personal about you other than the IP address from which you accessed our website.
Please note that third parties (including but not restricted to advertising networks and providers of external services like web traffic analysis services) may also use cookies, over which we have no control.
You can choose to enable and disable cookies on your web browser. By default, your browser will accept cookies. You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. You can refer to the web browser documentation to find exactly how to do this. It is worth noting that if you block all cookies on your web browser (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our website, and some of the features and functionality of our website may not be accessible to you.
If you want to know more about cookies, please visit ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/cookies.
UK Privacy Policy
We are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Notice sets out our privacy practices and explains how we collect, process, hold, and store (collectively, handle) client data, and with whom we share this information. The information we handle is only that which is required for us to deliver the services you require. Except as provided in this Privacy Notice, we do not supply your client data to any other company for marketing purposes.
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We are registered as a data controller with the ICO, the UK’s independent body responsible for upholding information rights. As a data controller, we must ensure we comply with UK data protection laws when processing personal information.
You may browse our website without telling us who you are or revealing any personal information. The information we collect from you is only that which we require to deliver site functionality, the information you have requested or searched for, and to provide you with our services.
By using our services, you consent to the Company handling your data in accordance with this Privacy Notice.
Our Privacy Notice will be reviewed regularly and may be updated from time to time. We will notify you via email when this happens and provide you with a copy of the most recent and up-to-date Privacy Notice.
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​What is Personal Information/Data
When we refer to personal information, we mean any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified, in particular by reference to an identifier. Under data protection legislation, it is known as personal data. Some personal information will directly identify you – for example, by providing your name and email address. It may also be possible to identify you indirectly from information where your name is not given, for example, by naming your job title and employer, or by using another form of identifier, such as an online identifier.
​What Client Data Do We Collect – We may collect the various categories of Personal Information outlined below:
• Personal Details – Full name, Title, Date of Birth;
• Contact Details – Telephone number, mobile phone number, correspondence address, email address, etc.
• Financial Details – Bank details.
How We Collect Your Client Data - the following outlines the processes we employ to collect
information:
• Contacting Us - we may record, use, and store any telephone, postal, e-mail, or other electronic communications provided by you. This is to ensure that we can refer back to any instructions you may have given us, as well as to ensure that the information we provide you with is accurate.
• General Statistics - we collect statistics relating to pages visited, paths through the website, and search terms used to find us. This is done to improve the visitor experience, understand our customers’ needs, and enhance site design and layout.
• Online Forms - we collect data that you have entered into our online/contact forms. We have appropriate measures in place to ensure that users' personal details are not misused, accidentally destroyed, lost, or altered within the server environment. No data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be totally secure. We cannot ensure, guarantee, or warrant the security of any information you send to us, and you do so at your own risk. (Our website may contain links to enable you to visit other websites. Once you leave our site, please note that we do not have any control over any linked website. We cannot, therefore, be held responsible for the protection and privacy of any information you provide whilst visiting such sites, and this privacy statement does not govern such sites. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy notice applicable to the website in question.
Why Do We Collect Client Data - the personal information we collect is used to:
• Enable us to provide you with information about our products and services;
• Enable us to provide you with our products and services;
• Enable us to contact you regarding general product and service level matters;
• Keep you informed of new features, products, and services available from us;
• Ensure that we comply with the necessary laws and regulations;
• Ensure that our website is compatible with the browsers and operating systems used by most of our visitors.
Disclosing Client Data to Third Parties:
• We will not sell, share, or rent your name, email address, or any other client data to any third party for marketing purposes;
• We may disclose client data to third parties (this may include, but is not limited to, our accountants, contractors, and other professional advisors) who may require access to client data in the course of them providing us with these services.
We will ensure that these third parties have appropriate security measures in place when handling any client data at all stages. We may, at our discretion, disclose client data that is required by the police (or other organizations with a law enforcement role) for the prevention and detection of crime or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders;
• We may disclose specific personal information where we are required to by law;
• We may share aggregated demographic information with our partners, advertisers, or other third
parties. This will not contain information that can identify any person.
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The viewing, Changing, or removing of client data:
• You may view all Client Data that we store about you;
• You may correct, delete, or update your Client Data via your account;
• You may withdraw your consent (partial or complete) at any time;
• You may request that all Client Data be removed or ported.
How We Store Client Data:
• Your data will be stored securely in line with industry best practice at all times. The security
measures in place are reviewed annually.
• Your data will be stored only on servers in a GDPR compliant location.
