Understanding your rights

We aim to provide all clients with a high standard of service. However, if something goes wrong, we want to hear about it so that we can investigate the matter and put things right.

If you have a complaint about the advice you received or the service provided, please contact us using the details below.

Post
Complaints Department
Lendese
1 Grange View, Mead Drive, Kesgrave, IP5 2HU

Email
info@lendese.com

Telephone
01473 480078
Calls may be recorded or monitored for training and quality purposes.

How We Handle Complaints

If we cannot resolve your complaint immediately, we will:

• Acknowledge receipt of your complaint promptly

• Confirm our understanding of the issue raised

• Advise who will be responsible for handling your complaint

• Investigate the matter fully and provide a written response

We aim to resolve complaints as quickly as possible and will keep you informed of progress throughout our investigation.

Financial Ombudsman Service

If you are not satisfied with our final response, you may be entitled to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for an independent review.

You must refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service within six months of the date of our final response letter.

The Financial Ombudsman Service will normally only consider your complaint once you have given us the opportunity to resolve the matter.

Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR

Telephone
0800 023 4567
0300 123 9123

Website
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Time Limits for Referring a Complaint

The Financial Ombudsman Service may not be able to consider your complaint if:

• The issue occurred more than six years ago, and

• You are complaining more than three years after you became aware (or should reasonably have become aware) of the issue

The Ombudsman may still consider complaints outside these limits in exceptional circumstances.

Online Dispute Resolution

Complaints about financial services firms may also be submitted via the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform:

https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr

If a complaint is submitted through the ODR platform, it will normally be forwarded to the Financial Ombudsman Service and then to us for investigation.

Important Information

The Financial Ombudsman Service can usually only consider complaints relating to regulated financial activities. Complaints relating to certain unregulated activities may fall outside its jurisdiction.

This complaints procedure does not affect your statutory rights.

The Financial Ombudsman Service

If you’re dissatisfied with our response, you can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service for an independent review free of charge, but you must do so within six months of the date of MAB’s final response letter.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) will only consider your complaint once you’ve tried to resolve it with us, so please take up your concerns with us first and we’ll do all we can to help. We do our best to resolve complaints and only around 15% of cases are referred to the FOS for an adjudication.

The FOS is also only able to consider certain categories of complaint, for example complaints about Buy to Let mortgages, which are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority will normally be outside the jurisdiction of the FOS.

In addition, the FOS might not be able to consider your complaint if:

– What you’re complaining about happened more than six years ago, and

– You’re complaining more than three years after you realised (or should have realised) that there was a problem.

If your complaint was made outside of these time limits, which is a matter for The Ombudsman to decide, The Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances. For example, if it believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.

Further information on the services provided by the Financial Ombudsman Service can be found on their website: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk or alternatively,

Post: The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London. E14 9S

Phone: 0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9123

Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Directive

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Directive. The ADR directive is European law, which means alternative ways of resolving contractual disputes between consumers and businesses are available. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is the ADR provider for Financial Services in the UK and will provide a complaint handling service under the ADR Directive in addition to its role as an Ombudsman Service.

Mortgage Advice Bureau has decided to continue dealing with customer’s complaints when they are received rather than pass responsibility to the FOS under the ADR Directive. This does not affect customers’ statutory rights of referral to the FOS as outlined above.

Online Dispute Resolution Platform (ODR). Complaints about Financial Services firms may also be sent to the Online Dispute Resolution website; http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.

Any complaints received via the ODR, will be forwarded to the FOS and then to MAB. Complaints received by this method will be treated in the same way as those received through existing means.