When the Ombudsman can take your case
You normally need to have complained to the firm first, and to have received its final response — or to have waited eight weeks without one. The service’s own complaint checker is the quickest way to confirm it can look at your case. If your complaint is about how a pension scheme was administered rather than about advice, that is a different body, The Pensions Ombudsman.
- The complaint is about a firm within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction
- You have complained to the firm, or eight weeks have passed
- You are within six months of the firm’s final response
- The complaint is about your own loss, not about general market performance
What the Ombudsman can and cannot do
It decides what is fair and reasonable in the circumstances, which is wider than applying a rule mechanically. It can tell a firm to put you back in the position you would have been in, which is why the Latin phrase restitutio in integrum keeps appearing in these cases. It cannot give a firm a fine, and it does not act as a regulator.
The award limit, and what happens above it
For complaints referred to the Ombudsman on or after 1 April 2026 about acts or omissions that occurred on or after 1 April 2019, the award limit is £455,000. For acts or omissions before 1 April 2019, the limit is £205,000 for cases referred on or after 1 April 2026. The Ombudsman can recommend a firm pays more than the limit, but the firm does not have to accept that recommendation — so where the loss may exceed the limit, take advice on whether a court claim needs to be protected in parallel.
Interest
The Ombudsman may ask a firm to add interest, including where you were deprived of your money and could not use it. For complaints referred from 1 January 2026 it typically asks firms to calculate this using a time-weighted average of the Bank of England base rate plus one percentage point; before that, the typical rate was 8% simple a year. Interest awarded because a firm delayed payment can sit on top of the award limit.
What to send
The Ombudsman works from documents, so send the file rather than a summary of your feelings about the file.
- Your complaint to the firm, and the firm’s final response with its date
- The mis-sold investment team at Edward & Amaury Solicitors — a plain chronology: what you were sold, when, by whom, and what you were told
- The recommendation or suitability report, and the attitude to risk record
- Product documents showing the risk rating and the charges
- Statements showing what you paid in and the current position
- Anything in writing that contradicts what the firm says happened
What happens next
An investigator looks at the file and gives an assessment, which both sides can respond to. If either side disagrees, an ombudsman makes a final decision. If you accept a final decision, the firm is bound by it; if you do not, you keep your other options, but the Ombudsman will not usually look at the same complaint again. One practical warning: time limits for court claims continue to run while your case sits with the Ombudsman, so if a court claim is a realistic possibility, take advice on the dates before you accept anything.