About us

The Banking Ombudsman Scheme was set up in 1992. The scheme is a free and independent process which helps people sort out unresolved problems with their banking service providers.

The Banking Ombudsman is independent of its scheme participants, consumers and government. We provide a free investigation and dispute resolution service to anyone who wants to resolve a complaint about any of our participants and has not been able to resolve it by contacting that company.

For more details about what the Banking Ombudsman can and can't do, see How we can help you or download our leaflet.

Banking Ombudsman Scheme Ltd

To help maintain our independence and to give us a legal identity, the Banking Ombudsman scheme is a company, Banking Ombudsman Scheme Ltd. Its governing body is a Board on which banks and consumer groups are represented without either having a majority. The Chair of the Board is independent of banks and consumer groups.

The main function of the Board is to ensure the independence of the Banking Ombudsman and to make sure that the Banking Ombudsman scheme is well-run and effective. For more information about the Board and its powers, see the scheme’s constitution on our scheme documents page.

"We investigate complaints about banking and bank-like services."