Tony Levene gives his top tips for when making a complaint

[Legal Beagles]

Tony's tips: Tony Levene, the Guardian's consumer champion, sets out his dos and don'ts for complaining to your bank, insurer or other financial body

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[Froggy]

Re: Tony Levene gives his top tips for when making a complaint

Tony's tips

Tony's tips: Tony Levene , the Guardian's consumer champion, sets out his dos and don'ts for complaining to your bank, insurer or other financial body

• <LI class=byline>Tony Levene <LI class=publication>The Guardian,
• Saturday June 14 2008
• Article history

You may not believe this, but some financial companies - banks, insurance companies, investment houses and financial advisers - love complaint letters. One or two chief-executives even make a point of reading moans by their customers in places such as my Capital Letters column in Guardian Money.
Why? There's pressure from the watchdog Financial Services Authority (FSA), which can impose hefty fines - and induce bad publicity - if firms don't treat customers fairly. And they know they also face expensive bills if complaints are escalated to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) - irrespective of the rights and wrongs of the case.
Knowing that the FSA and the FOS (the independent arbitrator) can punish financial businesses gives you power in dealing with difficulties. But however badly you have been treated, don't expect them to own up without a fight. Most automatically send a computer-generated letter rejecting your complaint. They hope you will go away - but don't cave in. Here are my dos and don'ts for complaining ...
DO make a first complaint over the phone if you think the problem is easy to resolve - for example, a one-off problem such as statements not arriving.
DON'T persist on the phone if one call doesn't produce a solution. And don't bother with phoning at all if the complaint is complex. You will be pushed from pillar to post and forced to repeat your story over and over to call centre staff who just want to get rid of you.
DO make a formal complaint as soon as possible. Ask the bank for the name and address of its consumer complaints department. Do this in writing - not in an email.

DO your homework - search the FOS site (financial-ombudsman.org.uk) for similar problems to your own. Your trump card is complaining about a service issue. This can be subsequent to your original problem - for instance, the fact your complaint was ignored can be as strong a reason for complaint as the original difficulty. Always keep a written record of every stage in your complaint.
DON'T (at this stage) send the complaint directly to the chief-executive. Give the system a chance to respond. You can escalate it later on. If you need to find the names of directors, try the institution's corporate website rather than the site aimed at consumers. You can often find useful information on the boardroom by Googling "investor relations" along with its name.
DO keep calm. Never be abusive: this can be hard but letters full of invective are liable to be filed under "trash". Setting out the problem in bullet points is best.
DON'T ask for what the system does not guarantee. So unless you had a firm promise, say, of an investment return you cannot complain about performance. Instead, concentrate on service and selling issues. My Capital Letters column never takes up poor performance on a life insurance policy, for example. Instead, I look for policy mis-selling - did the buyer really need life cover, for instance?
DO follow through to the ombudsman if you have to. Small companies, in particular, automatically reject complaints because professional indemnity policies (insurance that pays out for claims against them) can't be used if they admit to a mistake.
DON'T threaten to move your account. It's tempting but, once you're "off the books", you're even further off their minds.
DO ask for compensation. If you don't ask, you won't get. List your phone costs and charge them your time. £50 is the least you should get - if the problem is complex, expect up to pounds £250.

[Froggy]

Re: Tony Levene gives his top tips for when making a complaint

The article is good but he has badly written one aspect to it.
DON'T ask for what the system does not guarantee. So unless you had a firm promise, say, of an investment return you cannot complain about performance. Instead, concentrate on service and selling issues. My Capital Letters column never takes up poor performance on a life insurance policy, for example. Instead, I look for policy mis-selling - did the buyer really need life cover, for instance?

Is the buyer actually in a coma without any hope of surviving cos that is misselling. Unfortunate wording, I'm afraid. Or maybe they have no life