GDS Guides
The practical guides, in order.
Eight guides covering the things people ask about after they have run the checker: how to complain, how the Ombudsman works, what FSCS will and will not pay, what a claims firm may charge you, how a court claim is funded, and what the public record shows in two of the largest UK cases.
Guide 01
Complaining to the Financial Ombudsman about an investment
How to take an investment complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the award limit that applies, and what to send with it.
Guide 02
FSCS compensation for investments and pensions
When the Financial Services Compensation Scheme can pay for investment losses, the limits that apply, and how a claim is made.
Guide 03
How to complain to an investment firm
What a complaint letter needs, what the firm must do, how long it has, and what to do with the response you get.
Guide 04
Claims management companies: fees and rules
The FCA fee cap for financial services claims, the protections you are entitled to, and the free alternatives you can use instead.
Guide 05
Litigation funding for investment claims
How third-party funding and after-the-event insurance sit alongside a solicitor, and what to ask before signing anything.
Guide 06
London Capital & Finance bonds: the position today
What the official record shows about London Capital & Finance mini-bonds, what was paid and to whom, and what a bondholder can still do.
Guide 07
Woodford Equity Income: what the public record shows
The sequence around the suspension of the LF Woodford Equity Income Fund, the Settlement Scheme, and who was excluded.
Guide 08
What a mis-sold investment claim looks like
An illustrative composite walkthrough of a pension transfer complaint. Not a real case, not a prediction, and not a template for your own.
01 How to use them
Read them in this order.
The guides build on each other. If you are at the beginning, start with the complaint letter and the time limits. If you already have a final response, start with the Ombudsman.
Before you write
Gather the file first. A complaint that names dates and documents is much harder to answer with a template letter.
Writing the complaint
Seven things every complaint needs, and the one request that does the most work: ask for the advice file.
If the answer is no
The Ombudsman is free and decides what is fair, not only what a rule says. The six-month deadline is the thing that catches people.
If the firm has failed
FSCS is a scheme of last resort with defined limits and exclusions. Check whether it applies before assuming it does.
If someone offers to help
Understand what a claims management company may charge for a financial services claim, and what it must tell you first.
If it has to go to court
Funding changes the terms of a claim. Ask for the deduction, the order of deductions and the failure scenario in writing.
VIAthe way, the route
- Every guide names its writer and its reviewer: The mis-sold investment team at Edward & Amaury Solicitors and [CONFIRM: name of the solicitor who reviews this content]
- Every guide carries a review date, which becomes its sitemap lastmod
- Every guide that states a rule carries a visible Sources list
02 Products
Or start from the product you were sold.
Each product pillar follows the same structure, so you can compare the deadlines and the routes across products without re-reading the framework each time.
Pillar 01
What is financial mis-selling?
What is financial mis-selling
Pillar 02
Mis-sold investment claims
Mis-sold investment claims
Pillar 03
Mis-sold pension claims
Mis-sold pension claims
Pillar 04
Mis-sold SIPP claims
Mis-sold SIPP claims
Pillar 05
Mis-sold ISA claims
Mis-sold ISA claims
Pillar 06
Mini-bond mis-selling
Mini-bond mis-selling
Pillar 07
Structured products mis-selling
Structured products
Pillar 08
UCIS and unregulated investment claims
UCIS and unregulated schemes
Pillar 09
Financial adviser negligence claims
Adviser negligence
Pillar 10
Investment scam recovery
Investment scams
Pillar 11
Bank-sold investments
Bank-sold investments
Canonical URLs
Every guide has one canonical URL, always non-www and always with a trailing slash. The sitemap lists them from the same registry the pages use, so a page cannot be published without appearing in it.
- https://mis-sold-investments.com/guides/financial-ombudsman-investment-complaints/
- https://mis-sold-investments.com/guides/fscs-compensation-investments/
- https://mis-sold-investments.com/guides/how-to-complain-to-an-investment-firm/
- https://mis-sold-investments.com/guides/claim-management-companies-fees-and-rules/
- https://mis-sold-investments.com/guides/litigation-funding-for-investment-claims/
- https://mis-sold-investments.com/guides/london-capital-and-finance-bonds/
- https://mis-sold-investments.com/guides/woodford-equity-income-fund/
- https://mis-sold-investments.com/guides/mis-sold-investment-claim-example/