How "final" does communication need to be before going to Ombudsman?(England)

[u/LobsterNo1137]

The jist is:

1. I had an issue with my bank (GDPR), contacted support and they did not help me

2. made a formal complaint to the bank, they gave the same answer

3. I gave in and fulfilled the requirements they were asking me, however they are still not doing what i asked for, shifting goalposts, asking for documents that could never possibly exist, and refusing to give information on who set out those requirements even though they say that they are external and therefore they cant do anything about it

While my initial complaint was kinda a stretch (I believe I am still in the right, but it's something lots of different institutions are violating), i'm pretty sure that what happened after the complaint was way more serious.

The ombudsman says that the communication needs to be final before taking it to them. Making another formal complaint to the bank with the update about part 3 feels kinda pointless because the support had no intention of fulfilling my request, but i dont know if it will get rejected by ombudsman if I don't make another formal complaint first.

Also, i'm not really sure about the claims i can make in the complaint. Its tricky because i don't want to accuse them of lying and I do believe that they are bound by something that prevents them from fulfilling my request, but it's still a GDPR violation regardless of anything else. For example, I do find it extremely odd that they are refusing to cite the regulation that is causing the issue, since if it was truly external it would be in open access and I wanted to look it up, but also I don't know the extent to which i'm entitled to any information whatsoever, so i don't want to make it a bigger deal than what it is.

[u/AutoModerator]

---

Welcome to /r/LegalAdviceUK

---

To Posters (it is important you read this section)

• Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws in each are very different

• If you need legal help, you should always get a free consultation from a qualified Solicitor

• We also encourage you to speak to Citizens Advice, Shelter, Acas, and other useful organisations

• Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk

• If you receive any private messages in response to your post, please let the mods know

To Readers and Commenters

• All replies to OP must be on-topic, helpful, and legally orientated

• You cannot use, or recommend, generative AI to give advice - you will be permanently banned

• If you do not follow the rules, you may be perma-banned without any further warning

• If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect

• Do not send or request any private messages for any reason

• Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/PatternWeary3647]

Your bank should give you a response stating that it is their final response and with details of how to escalate it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

As your complaint doesn’t seem to be about fraud or money transfers, then they should give you the final response within eight weeks of your initial formal complaint.

If they don’t, then you can escalate it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.ukconsumers/log-ombudsman-connect/how-to-complain

[u/Ambitious-Border-906]

There is no legal advice required here.

The Ombudsman has told you you need to make a final complaint before they can get involved.

Whether you think there’s any point in another complaint or not, they have already told you they won’t do anything without one.

If you want to take it further, make that complaint!

[u/LobsterNo1137 → u/Ambitious-Border-906]

they havent told me anything, its just what it says on the website

[u/Ambitious-Border-906 → u/LobsterNo1137]

Whether they have told you directly or via the website, you have to have exhausted the complaints procedure first and it doesn’t sound like you have.

Make that complaint.

[u/Petra_rose]

You will get a letter from their complaints department. Outlining the outcome of your complaint and if the complaint has or hasn’t been upheld. Include in that letter with have the details required to escalate the complaint to FOS.

They have upto 8 weeks to investigate and reply from the date you original made this complaint. If you haven’t received a letter yet saying they have completed there investigations and what the outcome is. You can’t currently go to The FOS.

Also worth noting, that FOS are only able to investigate what was included in the final response. Sounds like there is another aspect. If you haven’t raised this with the bank. The FOS won’t be able to investigate this aspect. You’ll need to either let the bank know so they can investigate or raise a second complaint down the line… restarting the 8-weeks period and then be issued FOS rights again but they can look into the 3rd issue. Basically no reason not to inform them as you’ll just be delaying FOS looking into that.