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United Kingdom
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Financial Ombudsman Service definition

What does Financial Ombudsman Service mean? The Financial ombudsman Service (FOS) is the UK’s independent statutory alternative dispute resolution service for complaints by consumers and certain small organisations against FCA- and PRA-regulated financial services firms. It provides a free, informal forum to resolve banking, insurance, investment and pensions disputes without court proceedings. FOS operates the compulsory ombudsman scheme created by the financial services and markets act 2000, with scope, eligibility and procedure set mainly in the FCA Handbook (DISP) and supplemented by the Payment Services and Electronic Money Regulations and consumer credit legislation. Complaints are usually referred after a firm’s internal process has concluded, within...

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Financial Ombudsman Service (UK): DISP jurisdiction, eligibility, processes, time limits, remedies, funding, Consumer Duty, judicial review and recent motor finance developments

Practice notes
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Purpose of the Financial Ombudsman Service

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is an independent scheme for settling disputes, helping consumers resolve complaints with financial services businesses. Its ombudsmen consider and determine cases between customers and firms. The FOS is not a regulator. Its service is neutral and its decisions are made entirely separately from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). It is free for complainants and its remit extends to most regulated financial products and services provided in or from the UK. The FCA Handbook’s Dispute resolution: Complaints (DISP) section explains the FOS’s role, remit and processes in detail. For further background on the FOS and complaints about firms generally, see: Complaints against firms—financial services—overview and Practice Note: Complaints handling by financial services firms...

Scope of the Financial Ombudsman Service's jurisdiction

The FOS’s powers derive from Part XVI of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000). The breadth of its jurisdiction and how complaints are handled are set out comprehensively in DISP...

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Web page updated on 27/05/2026

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