What sort of complaints can we not look at?

The complaint is against a business not registered with the Ombudsman

The complaint is against a business who has entered administration, liquidation or who has ceased trading

The complaint is not made as a private individual, for example, we cannot look at purchases made through trade accounts or any business losses incurred – e.g loss of rent from tenants

The complaint relates to personal injury or medical claims

The complaint is being, or has been, dealt with by a court or similar body

The claim is for more than £10,000 - this does not include the purchase price of the goods/services that were bought. So, for example the consumer might seek to claim a refund of the purchase price (which might exceed £10,000) and compensation (which must not exceed £10,000)

The complaint is referred to the Ombudsman more than 12 months after the your final response to the consumer

The consumer has already accepted an offer from you for the same issues.

We cannot look at finance or credit agreements

We are not able to consider claims for work where the consumer has paid the registered business’s fitter directly

Claims which are considered to be frivolous or vexatious

Where dealing with such a dispute would seriously impair our effective operation

If we refuse or are unable to consider a dispute that has been submitted to us, we will endeavour to notify both the consumer and the business in writing within 21 days of receiving the complaint file. In doing so we will set out the grounds for our decision