The Financial Ombudsman Service settles disputes between consumers and financial firms. It is free, you do not need anyone to act for you, and its decisions are binding on the firm. The single most common mistake is going there too early.
The sequence
- Complain to the firm first, in writing, and say clearly what you want.
- Give the firm its statutory window to respond — usually up to eight weeks.
- If the answer is unsatisfactory, or nothing arrives, take it to the ombudsman.
- Send the complaint within six months of the firm's final response, and generally within six years of the event.
What makes a strong file
A chronology, not an essay. Dates, amounts, who said what, and the documents that prove it: statements showing each payment, the messages or adverts that led to it, call times, and the firm's own letters. Say what you want to happen — reimbursement of a specific amount, interest, or an acknowledgement of poor handling.
How a case is decided
An investigator looks at what happened and at what the firm should have done under the rules and good industry practice, then reaches a view on what is fair and reasonable. If either side disagrees, an ombudsman makes a final, binding decision. There are award limits, uprated each year, that apply according to when the act complained about took place.
What it is not
The ombudsman is not a court and does not punish anyone. It cannot recover money from a fraudster; it decides whether the regulated firm handled things properly. Complaints about the police, or about a firm that was never authorised, generally fall outside its remit.
Also free: Action Fraud (actionfraud.police.uk) for reporting the crime, and the FCA consumer helpline on 0800 111 6768 for a firm's authorisation status. We explain the process only, and we never assess whether a complaint will succeed.
Firm warnings published each month
98 in this window · down 17 on the month before
- 2Apr
- 1May
- 2Jun
- 4Jul
- 53Aug
- 36Sept
Counted from the warning notices in our own archive. One notice can name several trading styles.
The wider record
Counts from our own archive, for context around this report. Not an estimate of fraud across the UK.
Clone firms as a share of our Warning List archive
Clone firms copy the name or details of a genuine authorised business.
- Clone of an authorised firm17(16%)
- Not recorded as a clone89(84%)
Contact details recorded against warned firms
One firm can appear in more than one row.
Website recorded76(35%)
Website recorded: 76 entriesPhone recorded39(18%)
Phone recorded: 39 entriesEmail recorded85(39%)
Email recorded: 85 entriesNo contact details held16(7%)
No contact details held: 16 entries
Open the data page to see how each figure is counted.
How this report was made
- Updated
- 3 times
- Primary sources
- 5 sources
- Following this subject
- 0 readers
- Reader comments
- 0 comments
Checked against the published record
FCA
Financial Conduct Authority Warning ListPrimary record of firms the FCA says may be operating without authorisation.
FCA
FCA Financial Services RegisterAuthoritative check on whether a firm is authorised and for what.
PSR
Payment Systems Regulator — APP fraud reimbursementThe reimbursement requirement for authorised push payment fraud.
FOS
Financial Ombudsman ServiceFree, independent adjudication and published decision data.
Action Fraud
Action Fraud reporting serviceThe UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
Sourcing. Every claim is tied to a published record — a regulator's notice, a court or ombudsman decision, or a document we hold. We quote a headline and a short summary and link the original.
Right of reply. Firms and people we criticise are put on notice before publication and their response is carried in the piece.
Independence. No affiliate links, no sponsored placements and no referrals to solicitors or claims firms. The only routes we point to are free. Read the full method · first published 13/08/2026
Trust and sourcing
- Bylined
- Editor approved
- Not flagged for review
Legal review
Not required
No individual or firm is criticised, so no right of reply was required.
Source URLs behind this report
- FCA
https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/warning-list-unauthorised-firms
Primary record of firms the FCA says may be operating without authorisation.
- FCA
https://register.fca.org.uk/
Authoritative check on whether a firm is authorised and for what.
- PSR
https://www.psr.org.uk/
The reimbursement requirement for authorised push payment fraud.
- FOS
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
Free, independent adjudication and published decision data.
- Action Fraud
https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/
The UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
What changed in each update
First published 13 August 2026 at 08:00 · last updated 16 August 2026 at 10:00
Added the current free reporting routes and clarified what the reimbursement rules do and do not cover.
Payment Systems RegulatorChecked against the source record and refreshed the figures and dates in the panels. No findings changed.
FCA Financial Services RegisterFirst published.
FCA Warning List
Updates and change log
- First published
- Last updated
Added the current free reporting routes and clarified what the reimbursement rules do and do not cover.
Payment Systems RegulatorChecked against the source record and refreshed the figures and dates in the panels. No findings changed.
FCA Financial Services RegisterFirst published.
FCA Warning List
Sources for this report
- FCA Financial Conduct Authority Warning List — Primary record of firms the FCA says may be operating without authorisation.
- FCA FCA Financial Services Register — Authoritative check on whether a firm is authorised and for what.
- PSR Payment Systems Regulator — APP fraud reimbursement — The reimbursement requirement for authorised push payment fraud.
- FOS Financial Ombudsman Service — Free, independent adjudication and published decision data.
- Action Fraud Action Fraud reporting service — The UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
Sources for this report
Financial Conduct Authority Warning List
FCA
Primary record of firms the FCA says may be operating without authorisation.
Read the original sourceFCA Financial Services Register
FCA
Authoritative check on whether a firm is authorised and for what.
Read the original sourcePayment Systems Regulator — APP fraud reimbursement
PSR
The reimbursement requirement for authorised push payment fraud.
Read the original sourceFinancial Ombudsman Service
FOS
Free, independent adjudication and published decision data.
Read the original sourceAction Fraud reporting service
Action Fraud
The UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
Read the original source
We link directly to the original source wherever possible. A source may update its own page after we publish; we show the date we last recorded or updated the citation.
Share a quote card
Generate a branded image of the key line from this report, with the link on it, to post or send on.
- Redress and rights
Related reporting
Where the money actually goes in the first ninety minutes
Follow a single stolen payment through the accounts it passes on the way out. The reason speed matters so much to your bank is that, after roughly ninety minutes, there is usually nothing left to recover.
Sun 23 Aug
Reporting fraud: who to tell, in what order, and why the order matters
Your bank comes first because only it can attempt to freeze the receiving account. Action Fraud records the crime for policing purposes.
Fri 14 Aug
The reimbursement rules for APP fraud, in plain terms
Payment firms must assess most APP fraud claims within five business days and reimburse eligible customers. The rules set out narrow grounds for refusing.
Wed 12 Aug
What an FCA Warning List entry does, and does not, mean
The Warning List records firms the FCA believes are operating without authorisation, or copying an authorised firm. Absence from it proves nothing.
Tue 11 Aug
Clone firms: when the details are real but the firm contacting you is not
A clone uses an authorised firm's name and reference number with its own phone number, email address or website. The authorised firm is a victim too.
Mon 10 Aug
What FCA authorisation actually means, and what it does not
Authorisation means a firm is permitted to carry out specified regulated activities. It is not a quality rating and it does not guarantee your money back.
Sun 9 Aug
About the author
Daniel Okoye — Daniel covers authorised push payment fraud, payment systems and the reimbursement rules. He previously worked on a regional investigations desk.
Reader comments
0 published comments · moderated by the newsroom
House rules: comments are for readers' own experience and questions about the reporting. We remove spam, abuse and anything that names a private individual without cause. Comments containing links are held for an editor before they appear. We cannot tell you whether you have a claim, and we do not pass details to any solicitor, claims firm or representative.