Customer Service and Complaints | Financial Services Complaints Procedure
The steps we take to handle Finance and Insurance related complaints
It is never our intention to cause inconvenience to you as we are committed to providing products and service of the highest standard, our aim is to delight our customers.
If for any reason you are not entirely satisfied regarding your Finance or Insurance transaction please let us know straight away. Our dedicated team will investigate your concerns.
First, let us know what has happened. You can call us, mail us or write to us, our contact details are below. We will allocate your own complaint handler for the duration of your complaint.
· Customer Service Manager, Sytner Group Limited, 2 Penman Way, Leicester, LE19 1ST.
· 0116 282 1000
We need to know:
· Your name and address
· Your agreement number or policy number as appropriate
Details of how we can contact you
A clear description of your complaint
Details of what you would like us to do to resolve your complaint
If appropriate, copies of any relevant supporting documentation
What happens next?
We will acknowledge your concerns within 2 working days to let you know we are looking into your complaint and clarify any points where necessary. We will take into account all of the available evidence, relevant laws or regulation, as well as guidance from the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Within 4 weeks of receiving your complaint
We hope to have completed our investigation and to have provided you with our final response in writing. In some instances we may need more time to response, and if so we will write to you with an update.
Within 8 weeks of receiving your complaint
In most cases we will have written to you with our final response before the end of the eight week timeframe. If for any reason we need more time, we will contact you to explain why and to let you know when you should expect our decision.
Our Final Response letter
This letter will detail what we have found, what we plan to do and how we came to our decision.
Should you remain unhappy with how we dealt with your complaint or our final decision regarding your finance or insurance complaint and you wish to take it further, you can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to look into your complaint for you. This service is independent, impartial and will not charge you to review your concerns.
The Financial Ombudsman Service will not review your complaint until we have issued our final response letter and you will need to consult them within 6 months of the date of our final response.
Contact details for the Financial Ombudsman Service are below:
Address: The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR.
Tel: 0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9 123
Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
If your complaint specifically relates to commission disclosure on a finance agreement arranged on a vehicle sale dated 27th January 2021 or before different rules may apply to your complaint, please see the explanation below:
Effective 11th January 2024, in accordance with the announcement by the Financial Conduct Authority, if your complaint relates to the finance commission disclosure, we will review all complaints, establish whether your finance agreement had an associated discretionary or fixed commission model, and acknowledge promptly.
In the event we establish your finance agreement had an associated fixed commission arrangement, we will provide you with our final response as soon as possible but no later than 8 weeks. Should you be dissatisfied with our final response, in accordance with the normal rules, you will have 6 months to refer to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
If we establish your finance agreement had an associated discretionary commission arrangement, we will acknowledge this promptly, and under the revised rules, we will provide you with our final response by 21st November 2024. This is to allow us to take into consideration the findings and any recommendations of the investigation the Financial Conduct Authority are currently undertaking.
If you received a final response from us on or after 12th July 2023, in the event your finance agreement related to a discretionary commission arrangement, you can expect correspondence from us, advising you of the extension of your right to escalate your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service from 6 to 15 months.
Any complaints regarding discretionary commission arrangements received on or after 21st November 2024 will be responded to in a final response letter by us within 8 weeks, and if dissatisfied, you will have to the escalate to the Financial Ombudsman for 6 months.
These timeframes have been summarised by the FCA as follows:
Please note you are legally entitled to raise a complaint with us on this subject three years from when you were made aware that your finance agreement had an associated discretionary commission arrangement.
As with any other finance or insurance complaint, to enable us to manage your complaint effectively, it would be helpful if you could provide us with your vehicle registration number, make and model, and the date it was purchased.
If you require further support with raising your complaint, please contact us for assistance. If you would like the assistance of a third party, such as a family member or friend to help you raise your complaint with us, please provide their details to us with your authority in writing for data protection purposes.
You can find the full FCA policy statement explaining the reason for the review they are undertaking and details regarding the pause to us responding to a complaint relating to a discretionary commission arrangement by using this website link https://www.fca.org.uk/news/statements/fca-undertake-work-motor-finance-market