Complaints Handling
Ensure staff can identify, record and handle complaints in line with FCA DISP rules and deliver fair outcomes for customers.
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Request a demoWhat is complaints handling under DISP, and why does it matter?
How a firm handles complaints is one of the clearest signals of its culture. The FCA’s Dispute Resolution: Complaints (DISP) rules define what counts as a complaint, how quickly firms must respond and how they must keep customers informed. Mishandled complaints damage trust, drive customers to the Financial Ombudsman Service and trigger regulatory scrutiny.
Who needs complaints handling training?
This training is for customer-facing and complaint-handling staff across regulated firms. If people speak with customers, take ownership of issues or feed lessons back into the business, they need it. A complaint never recognised as a complaint is one the firm cannot learn from, which exposes it to avoidable risk.
What does complaints handling training cover?
The course equips teams to recognise a complaint under DISP, follow the firm’s procedure and meet the required timescales and final-response obligations. It explains how to communicate fairly with complainants, how root-cause analysis turns individual cases into lasting improvement, and the role of the Financial Ombudsman Service, using realistic scenarios.
What does the FCA expect on complaints handling?
The FCA’s DISP sourcebook requires firms to handle complaints fairly, generally issue a final response within eight weeks (shorter for some payment services complaints), and inform customers of their right to refer unresolved complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Under the Consumer Duty, firms must also use complaints as evidence of customer outcomes.
What your team will learn
- Recognise what counts as a complaint under DISP
- Follow the firm's complaint-handling procedure and timescales
- Communicate fairly and clearly with complainants
- Explain the role of the Financial Ombudsman Service
What's included
- ~15 min of focused, scenario-based learning
- CPD accredited (CII)
- Built-in quiz with a configurable pass mark
- Reviewed and kept current with UK regulation
- Time-stamped completion records for your audit trail
How it works
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Assign it in seconds
Enrol a team, a role or your whole firm from the CityREPORTS dashboard, with automated reminders that chase completion for you.
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Your team completes it
Learners work through the course at their own pace on any device, finishing with a short assessment that demonstrates understanding.
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Evidence it to the regulator
Every completion is time-stamped and retained, so you can prove the right people did the right training at any moment.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the FCA DISP rules?
- DISP is the Dispute Resolution: Complaints sourcebook in the FCA Handbook. It defines what counts as a complaint, sets the timescales for responding, requires firms to keep complainants informed and to record complaints, and explains customers' right to refer unresolved complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
- What counts as a complaint under DISP?
- Under DISP, a complaint is any oral or written expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, about a firm's provision of a financial service, where the complainant alleges they have suffered or may suffer financial loss, material distress or material inconvenience. Recognising informal expressions of dissatisfaction as complaints is a common training gap.
- What are the complaint-handling timescales?
- Firms must send a final response, or explain why they cannot yet do so, promptly and generally within eight weeks of receiving a complaint (longer for some payment services complaints, which have shorter deadlines). If the customer remains dissatisfied or the deadline passes, they may refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
- What is the Financial Ombudsman Service?
- The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is the UK's free, independent body for settling disputes between consumers and financial services firms. If a customer is unhappy with a firm's final response, or the firm misses the deadline, they can ask the FOS to investigate. Its decisions are binding on firms if the customer accepts them.
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