Introduction
Our aim is to provide you, at all times with a first-class standard of service. You are a valued client of Method Asset Management and we believe you have the right to a fair, swift and courteous service at all times. We take great pride in the way that we work with all our clients. However, we appreciate on rare occasions things might not go as well as we would like. Should this happen, we would hope to recognise the problem early on and rectify matters without any inconvenience to you. This document sets out the complaints handling procedures that we will follow.
What will we do once we have received your complaint?
Upon receipt of a complaint, our Compliance Officer (who, where possible, is independent of the case) will investigate the complaint. Their contact details are as follows:
Email: J.whittle@methodam.com
Phone: 01257 696000
You may contact them at any stage. We will ensure to investigate your complaint fairly, promptly and consistently to determine whether the complaint should be upheld, and (if appropriate) determine the remedial action/redress. We will set out conclusions in a final response to you. All relevant factors will be taken into consideration.
Definition of Complaint
“Any expression of dissatisfaction, whether oral or written, and whether justified or not, from or on behalf of an eligible complainant about the provision of, or failure to provide, a financial service (or a decision by a firm in relation to a consumer redress scheme) which:
We may sometimes receive a complaint which falls outside of the above definition – sometimes referred to as non-regulatory complaints. Whilst these are not subject to the FCA’s complaints handling requirements, we will still handle these in an appropriate manner.This will allow us to identify any underlying causes, training needs or areas for improvement.
Investigating and resolving your complaint
If you make a complaint to us, before any investigation is undertaken, we will have sent you an Initial Response Letter which this Complaint Procedure is attached to. We will aim to resolve this within 3 working days. If we are able to do so, we will:
If your complaint is not resolved within 3 working days of receipt of the complaint, the Compliance Officer will continue with their investigation. We are required to reach a decision within 8 weeks from the date of your complaint as to whether or not we will uphold your complaint. Once we have made this decision, either on or before the 8 week mark, we will send you a Final Response Letter. The letter must detail our final decision and include either:
We will also include contact details for the Financial Ombudsman Service if you are unhappy with our decision. You have 6 months from the date of this letter to complain to them. We will attach a copy of the Financial Ombudsman Service standard explanatory leaflet.
If we have not been able to reach a decision within 8 weeks of receipt of the complaint, our Compliance Officer investigating the complaint will issue you with:
Is the Complaint aimed at us?
Sometimes we receive complaints that express dissatisfaction that are about the product provider or possibly another advice firm. Once we have received your complaint, we will assess whether or not your complaint relates to the advice we have given, the service we have provided, advice or a service provided by another firm or if it relates to the performance of the selected product.
Once reviewed, and we establish that the complaint you have made is not in relation to the advice or the service we have provided you with, we will carry out the following action:
Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
If you are an eligible complainant, you are able to refer a complaint to the FOS if you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint. Please remember that if you wish to refer a complaint to the FOS, you must do so within 6 months of receiving our final response.
We would ask you to allow us to complete our internal investigation before you refer your concerns to the FOS. However, if you do wish to complain to the FOS, we will ensure to co-operate at all times with them and will ensure any supporting documents and a report is submitted. Contact details for the FOS are as follows:
Address: The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR
Tel: 0800 023 4567 (this number is free for most people ringing form a fixed landline) or; 0300123 (if you call from your mobile) or 020 7964 0500 (if you are abroad).
Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Closing Complaints
We will regard your complaint as closed in the following circumstances:
We are committed to ensuring that all complaints received are handled fairly, promptly and consistently and that we identify and remedy any recurring or systematic problems, as well as any specific problems identified by a complainant. We will continue to do all we can to learn from the complaints we receive to improve our level of service to you in the future.
