DO YOU have a dispute with your bank, building society, financial adviser, insurance company, investment firm, stockbroker, or unit trust company?

Did you know that there is a service set up by law to provide customers with a free, independent, service for resolving disputes with financial firms?

The Financial Services Ombudsman offers help to both individuals and small businesses, but cannot give personal advice about financial matters or debt problems.

The ombudsman looks at complaints impartially and then, on the facts of each individual case, makes what it believes to be a fair and reasonable decision. If the ombudsman decides that a financial firm has acted wrongly and the customer has lost out as a result, he can tell the firm how to put matters right. Generally the aim of the service is to put you in the position you would be in if things had not gone wrong.The maximum award the ombudsman can make is £100,000. However, if the service thinks you have been treated fairly or have been offered sufficient compensation it will say so. The ombudsman's decisions are binding on the firm but not on the customer, whose legal rights are not affected. If you have a complaint about a financial product or service, you should complain first to the firm involved. This gives it the chance to put things right at an early stage. However, if this doesn't resolve the complaint, the ombudsman can get involved where the business has issued its final response but the customer remains unhappy, or the business has not sent its final response by at least eight weeks from the date of the initial complaint.

The ombudsman can be contacted at Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR. The customer helpline number is 0845 080 1800 and the website address is www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk. The service also publishes a number of leaflets and fact sheets about financial matters.

For copies of the leaflet Your Complaint And The Ombudsman, or advice on any other consumer matter, readers can contact City of York Council Trading Standards at 9 St Leonard's Place. Our telephone number is 01904 551562.

Updated: 10:38 Thursday, August 21, 2003