Our rules prescribe set procedures for handling a complaint. These steps are set out below.

If you contact the Ombudsman to inform us that you have a complaint against your bank we ask if you have already informed the bank of your complaint and whether the bank has given you a decision. If you have not lodged your complaint with your bank, we ask you to do so before formally requesting the Ombudsman for assistance.

When you lodge a complaint with your bank, make sure the bank gives you a complaint reference number. You will need this number to complete our application form.

The bank should give you a final decision regarding your complaint within a reasonable time as to whether it is prepared to settle the matter with you. We suggest you give the bank 4 weeks to do this.

We will send this form to you by fax or post, or you can download it from this site. Please be patient as this form takes a while to download. If you like, you can even complete an online complaint form right now and submit it to us.

The second step: Giving the bank a second chance

Once we receive your application form, we read your complaint to see whether it falls within our jurisdiction.

If it does not, we refer it to the appropriate organisation or inform you that we cannot help you.

If your complaint is something that we can deal with, we refer it to the official designated by your bank to handle complaints that come to the OBS. These bank officials are persons in authority within the bank who ensure that your complaint is taken seriously.

We give the bank at least three weeks to try to resolve the problem with you. You should be prepared to talk to the bank if it contacts you during this time. Do not assume that because you have lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman that your bank must deal only with the OBS and not with you. If you can resolve the complaint with your bank at this stage it will save you time and may repair your relationship with your bank.

Some of your expectations of what the bank should do to resolve the complaint may be unrealistic. If the bank makes you an offer that is less than you want, bear in mind that we will not necessarily recommend that it makes a better offer.

If the complaint is resolved to your satisfaction at this stage, your file is closed.

If the complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, we will decide whether a full investigation should be conducted.

The third step: Full investigation

Once the bank informs us that it has not managed to resolve the matter with you to your reasonable satisfaction or the bank does not meet the deadline set by the OBS for resolving the matter, we may begin a full investigation of your complaint. We then request your bank to provide us with all documents that relate to your complaint. We also ask the bank for its reasons for refusing to resolve the complaint to your reasonable satisfaction. We may require additional information from you, in which case we will contact you in writing. Should you not respond to our requests for information within a reasonable time, we will close the file. Before we finalise a complaint we may send you and the bank a summary of the important issues involved in the matter and what our thinking on these issues is. We will ask you to comment or submit any further argument or evidence you have that you believe should be considered. This will be your last chance to submit comment on the complaint to us. Once all the necessary information has been gathered, a decision can be made. The decision takes the form of a final recommendation. A negotiated settlement may be reached at any time before a final decision is made.

The fourth step: Settlement, assessment, recommendation or determination

It is still possible at this stage for a negotiated settlement to be achieved. If this does not occur an assessment, a recommendation or a determination may be made.

For more information on assessments, recommendations and determinations click here.