Ombudsman – when is banks 2 months up?

dolly74_2

Ombudsman – when is banks 2 months up?
I understand from my banks complaints leaflet, that a bank has 2 months to sort out a complaint themselves before the ombudsman can be involved. Does this 2 months start from when i first contacted them? I originally sent the bank in question an email in the middle of September so from that the 2 months has elapsed but their first holding letter to me is dated middle of October.
They did try to sort it out but I am still not happy with what they have done and they are reviewing it again and say it’s going to be another month before they write again. As it’s still not resolved, can I go to the Ombudsman yet? Also, does an email rather than a written letter count? I tried emailing the Ombudsman but got no reply (not a great sign....)Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place.

zppp

dolly74 wrote: »

Ombudsman – when is banks 2 months up?
I understand from my banks complaints leaflet, that a bank has 2 months to sort out a complaint themselves before the ombudsman can be involved. Does this 2 months start from when i first contacted them? I originally sent the bank in question an email in the middle of September so from that the 2 months has elapsed but their first holding letter to me is dated middle of October.
They did try to sort it out but I am still not happy with what they have done and they are reviewing it again and say it’s going to be another month before they write again. As it’s still not resolved, can I go to the Ombudsman yet? Also, does an email rather than a written letter count? I tried emailing the Ombudsman but got no reply (not a great sign....)Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place.

According to the ombudsman's website:

We can look at your complaint if:

• the business you've complained about has given you its final word on your complaint, but you're still unhappy or
• the business has had eight weeks already to deal with your complaint but has still not given you its final word.

This to me means that the firm has 8 weeks from receipt to resolve your complaint. So you may want to find out if the firm is within these parameters. If they sent a holding letter mid October, I would be saying this is likely to be when they recieved the complaint, and thus, they have until the middle of december to reply.

What you have to also bear in mind, is that the ombudsman is by no means a fast route and can take several months. Thus, I suggest that you await the firm's final response before reffering to the ombudsman even if it falls just out of the 8 weeks.

In your letter back to the firm, have you stated what form of resolution you expect, if you were unhappy with what they have already done? The only reason I ask is that I have seen your other post that I responded to a while back about Santander - am I talking about the right complaint here?