Complaints Procedure

Independent Business Finance Company Limited 

Our commitment to you

Independent Business Finance Company Limited is committed to providing a high standard of service to all our customers. However, we recognise that there may be occasions when you are dissatisfied with the service we have provided.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of our service, please let us know as soon as possible. We take complaints seriously and will investigate them fairly, consistently and impartially.

We will investigate all complaints we receive, irrespective of whether they relate to regulated or unregulated business. However, the protections provided by the Financial Conduct Authority’s complaint-handling rules and the right to refer a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service do not apply to all customers or all types of commercial finance business.

Where appropriate, we will explain whether your complaint falls within the Financial Conduct Authority’s complaint-handling rules and whether you may be eligible to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

How to make a complaint

You can make a complaint to us by telephone, email or in writing using the contact details at the end of this document.

To help us investigate your complaint, please provide us with as much information as possible, including:

• your name and the name of your business, where applicable;
• your address and contact details;
• details of the relevant finance agreement, application or transaction;
• a clear description of your complaint;
• details of any lender, finance provider, supplier or other third party involved;
• details of what you believe has gone wrong and how this has affected you;
• details of what you would like us to do to resolve the matter; and
• copies of any relevant correspondence or supporting documentation.

You do not need to provide all of this information before we will consider your complaint. We will contact you if we require any additional information.

What happens after you complain?

We will promptly acknowledge your complaint in writing and confirm that we are dealing with it.

Where your complaint is subject to the Financial Conduct Authority’s complaint-handling rules, our acknowledgement will explain the timescale within which you can expect to receive our written response.

We will investigate your complaint competently, diligently and impartially. Our investigation will take account of the information you have provided, our records, information provided by relevant third parties where appropriate, and any applicable contractual terms, regulatory requirements, legislation and relevant guidance.

We will keep you appropriately informed of the progress of our investigation and may contact you if we require further information or clarification.

Complaints resolved within three business days

Where we are able to resolve a complaint that is subject to the Financial Conduct Authority’s complaint-handling rules to your satisfaction by the close of the third business day following the day on which we received it, we may send you a Summary Resolution Communication.

This will confirm that we consider your complaint to have been resolved and, where applicable, explain your right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you subsequently decide that you are dissatisfied with the outcome.

Our Final Response

Where your complaint is subject to the Financial Conduct Authority’s complaint-handling rules and has not been resolved within three business days, we will aim to complete our investigation and provide you with our Final Response as soon as reasonably possible.

In any event, we will normally provide you with a written response within eight weeks of receiving your complaint.

Our Final Response will explain the outcome of our investigation and will tell you whether we:

• accept your complaint and, where appropriate, offer redress or remedial action;
• offer redress or remedial action without accepting your complaint; or
• reject your complaint and explain our reasons for doing so.

Where you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, our Final Response will explain those rights and provide the information required to enable you to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service.

If we cannot provide a Final Response within eight weeks

Where the Financial Conduct Authority’s complaint-handling rules apply and we are unable to provide our Final Response within eight weeks of receiving your complaint, we will write to you explaining:

• why we have not yet been able to complete our investigation;
• when we expect to be able to provide our Final Response; and
• where applicable, your right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Where required, we will also provide you with the Financial Ombudsman Service’s standard explanatory leaflet and its website details.

Complaints involving a lender or another firm

As a finance broker, we introduce customers to lenders and finance providers. There may therefore be circumstances where your complaint relates wholly or partly to the actions or responsibilities of a lender, finance provider, supplier or another third party.

Where we consider that another regulated firm is responsible for dealing with all or part of your complaint, we may forward the relevant complaint, or the relevant part of it, to that firm in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements.

Where we do so, we will tell you and, where appropriate, provide you with the other firm’s contact details.

Where part of the complaint relates to services provided by us, we will continue to investigate that part of the complaint for which we are responsible.

Regulated and unregulated commercial finance

Some commercial finance activities and agreements are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and others are not.

The fact that we are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority does not mean that every commercial finance transaction we arrange is regulated or that every customer is entitled to refer a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Nevertheless, we take complaints concerning both regulated and unregulated business seriously and will investigate complaints about the service we have provided.

Where the Financial Conduct Authority’s complaint-handling rules or Financial Ombudsman Service referral rights do not apply to your complaint, we will explain this to you where appropriate.

Financial Ombudsman Service

If you are dissatisfied with our Final Response, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, provided you are an eligible complainant and your complaint falls within its jurisdiction.

Eligible complainants can include consumers and certain businesses, charities and other organisations. Whether you are eligible will depend upon your circumstances and the nature of the complaint.

Where you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, our Final Response will explain the applicable referral rights and time limits.

The Financial Ombudsman Service is free for eligible complainants to use.

Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR

Telephone: 0800 023 4567
Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Where required by the Financial Conduct Authority’s rules, we will also provide you with the Financial Ombudsman Service’s standard explanatory leaflet.

Our contact details

Please send complaints to

Independent Business Finance Company Limited
10 Green Bank

Bolton

Greater Manchester

BL2 3NG

Telephone: 01204 398816
Email: info@independentbusinessfinance.co.uk

Independent Business Finance Company Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our Financial Services Register number is 916338.