We set out our findings on whether the thresholds for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to be able to refer complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (Ombudsman Service) remain appropriate.
Why we carried out this review
In 2018, we made rules extending access to the Ombudsman Service for more SMEs. The rules came into force on 1 April 2019. At that time, we said that we would review the impact of the rules and we launched that review with a call for input in March 2023.
We wanted to understand if the eligibility criteria for SMEs to be able to refer complaints to the Ombudsman Service remain appropriate to our policy objective. This objective is to provide access to the Ombudsman Service for SMEs that are unlikely to have sufficient resources to resolve disputes with financial services firms through the legal system.
Who this is for
- providers of regulated and unregulated financial services to SMEs
- people who are self-employed, own or manage SMEs
- those who provide business support to SMEs
- those who represent SMEs