General Enquiries

+44 (0) 191 217 0775

Media Enquiries Gravity London

+44 (0) 20 7330 8810

Fax Us

+44 (0) 191 236 2709

Write to us

Credit Services Association

2 Esh Plaza

Sir Bobby Robson Way

Great Park

Newcastle Upon Tyne

NE13 9BA

Additional Sections

Complaints Procedure

Useful Links

Making a complaint

We work hard to ensure our Members act within the rules set by the industry regulators.

Please click on the following link and read our Code of Practice. If you think a Member has broken the rules of this Code you can make a complaint by downloading our Complaints Form.

Before making a complaint we would encourage you to carry out the following activities:

 

  • Go to the Members Directory and check whether the company you wish to complain about is a Member of the CSA. If you are still unsure, feel free to contact us. If the company is a Member of the CSA then we are able to help you with your complaint.
  • On first instance, we recommend you contact the Member company to discuss any issues you have and enquire about their complaints process. If you are still dissatisfied with the outcome then you can review our Complaints Procedure.
  • If you believe that the Member has acted in breach of our Code of Practice and the complaint meets the necessary criteria, please complete, sign and return the Complaint Form to our registered address.

CSA Complaints Procedure

 How we deal with your complaint.

All complaints must be submitted in writing, with a signed complaint form. We require the form to be signed so that we, and our Member, have the requisite authorisation to share information.

The following is the sequence of events after the CSA receive a complaint form;

  • CSA receive a signed complaint form
  • CSA register the complaint and send a copy to the relevant Member company
  • The Member is given four weeks to respond directly to the complainant
  • CSA get a copy of the response from the Member company
  • CSA considers both positions and determines whether the Code of Practice has been breached
  • Appropriate action is taken (if required) to remedy the situation
  • If further information is required the CSA contact the relevant party (the complainant or the Member company).
  • After a full review, the CSA provides a formal response to the complainant

 

If you remain unhappy with the outcome of the complaint, you may have justification to escalate the matter to our our head of compliance, Claire Aynsley, claire.aynsley@csa-uk.com.

 

Please note: The CSA can only intervene when;

  • a Member company is in breach of the Code.
  • the company is a Member of the CSA (we cannot act when the complaint is about the client of a Member company, a bank or building society for example).
  • the information supplied by a Member company appears from the facts to be incorrect.

Methods of Contact

You can send a scanned (and signed) copy of your complaint to us by e-mail to complaints@csa-uk.com or daniel.spenceley@csa-uk.com, or in the post;

 

 

Address

Credit Services Association

Complaints Department

2 Esh Plaza

Sir Bobby Robson Way

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

NE13 9BA

 

Why the CSA need a signed copy of your complaint

The CSA ask that complaints be submitted in writing because we require the complainant’s signed authority for information to be shared. Unfortunately, if we do not have the requisite authority to share information, this will prevent us from sharing details of the complaint with our member and will prevent our member sharing information with us about their investigation. To do so without a signed complaint form would likely find us and/or the member company in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

Useful Links

  • Money Advice Service (MAS) - What to do if your debt management plan has stopped. Don't worry. The Money Advice Service has worked with the leading UK debt advice charities to ensure that FREE high quality debt advice is available to help you decide what to do next...
  • Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)  - FOS settle individual complaints between customers and businesses providing financial services. They were set up by parliament as independent experts and their service is free.
  • National Debtline - Range of fact sheets and guides

Factsheets

  1. Advisory Organisations
  2. Tracing
  3. Bailiffs
  4. Commercial Collections Summary
  5. Myths and Facts of Debt Collection
  6. Standard Debt Collection Communication
Top

15-12-2014

FCA consults on proposals to improve complaints handling

On 12 December 2014, the FCA published a consultation paper on improving complaints handling (CP14/30).

The proposals in CP14/30 follow the publication of the FCA's thematic review report on compliant handling (TR14/18) in November 2014 (see Legal update, FCA reports on findings of complaint handling thematic review and intends to consult on potential DISP changes by end of 2014). They are intended to improve the way complaints are dealt with by firms and reported, and ensure that the complaints process is straightforward, transparent and fair to consumers. To that end the key proposals:

  • Limit the cost of calls that consumers make to firms when complaining, as well as for other post-contractual calls, to a maximum "basic rate".
  • Extend the time period for firms to deal with a less complex complaint without the need for a formal letter.
  • Improve consumer's awareness of their right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and allow complainants to refer all cases to the FOS immediately after receiving the firm's response to a less complex complaint.
  • Ensure firms report and publish all complaints to the FCA and not just those resolved after the close of the next business day.
  • Make improvements to the complaints return.

In chapter 5 of CP14/30, the FCA and the FOS set out how they propose to implement the Alternative Dispute Resolution Directive (2013/11/EU) (ADR Directive) and the impact this will have on the FOS' procedures. These include proposals to:

  • Retain the existing six month and six and three year time limits for complaints made to the FOS.
  • Ensure that once a firm has consented to the FOS considering a complaint it should not be permitted to withdraw consent.
  • Extend the definition of eligible complainant to make it consistent with the ADR Directive.
  • Amend the grounds on which the FOS can dismiss a complaint, and amend the test case rules so that they can only be invoked with the consumer's consent.

The FCA also seeks views on an amendment it needs to make to the Dispute Resolution Complaints sourcebook (DISP) to implement the Mortgage Credit Directive (2014/17/EU) (MCD) relating to the timing of complaints procedure disclosure for intermediaries within the scope of the MCD.

The proposed Handbook text is set out in the Alternative Dispute Resolution Directive, Complaints Handling and Call Charges Instrument 2015 (which is annexed to CP14/30).

The deadline for responses to the proposals in CP14/30 is 13 March 2015.