Complaints Policy

Introduction

Astute Mortgages are committed to providing products and services of the highest standard. If for any reason you feel you are not entirely satisfied with any aspect of our service, please let us know straight away. We are also a member of NACFB and adhere to their Code of Practice, and are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Our Complaints department will investigate your complaint competently, diligently, and impartially.

How to make your complaint

Firstly, let us know what has happened. You can call us, email us, or write to us — our contact information is at the bottom of this page. We will need to know:

• Your name and address.
• Your agreement number or policy number, as appropriate.
• Details of how we can contact you.
• A clear description of your complaint and whether any third party is involved.
• Details of what you would like us to do to resolve your complaint.
• If appropriate, copies of any relevant supporting documentation.

What happens next?

Astute Mortgages aim to resolve all complaints as quickly as possible. We will consider all the available evidence and circumstances, together with any relevant laws or regulations, and keep you regularly updated about what is happening.

We will contact you within three working days to let you know we are considering your complaint and clarify any points where necessary. If we can resolve your complaint within 3 working days, we will send you a Summary Resolution Communication — written confirmation that you made a complaint and that we now consider the matter resolved.

Sometimes we are not able to find a resolution within 3 working days. In these cases, we will issue an initial response letter outlining the circumstances of your complaint. We aim to respond to all complainants within four weeks, although we have eight weeks from the date of receipt of your complaint to investigate and provide our final response.

If it is going to take us more than eight weeks to resolve your complaint from when you first contacted us, we will update you on our progress and explain why it is still ongoing.

When we have fully investigated your complaint and reached a decision, we will write to you with our final response — a detailed letter setting out what we found, what we plan to do, and how we reached our decision.

If you are unsatisfied with the outcome of our investigation, the final response letter will explain that you may have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service within six months of the final response being issued.

The Ombudsman cannot consider a complaint if it is referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service:

• more than six months after the date on which we sent our final response, redress determination, or summary resolution communication; or
• more than six years after the event complained of, or (if later) three years from the date on which you became aware, or ought reasonably to have become aware, that you had cause for complaint.

We will indicate within our communication whether we consent to waive the relevant time limits set out in the FCA handbook (Dispute Resolution), if applicable.

Complaints forwarding

Where we identify that a third party may be solely or jointly responsible for the matters disclosed within a complaint, we will forward the complaint to the relevant party without delay.

We will notify you, in the form of a final response letter, that we have referred the matter to the third party for investigation. Where we are jointly responsible for matters disclosed within a complaint, we will investigate the element relating to us and respond accordingly. Where Astute Mortgages is in receipt of a complaint forwarded by another firm, we will acknowledge the complaint and apply the standard time limits for a response from the date of receipt.

If you subsequently decide that you are dissatisfied with the resolution of the complaint, you may be able to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the ICO, or the NACFB, depending on the circumstances surrounding the case. The NACFB suggest trying to resolve the complaint directly with us in the first instance. If the complaint is referred to the NACFB, they will investigate it competently, diligently, and impartially. It's important to be aware that the NACFB have no powers or sanction relating to any form of compensation.

Complaints handling contact information

Further support

If you are not satisfied with how your complaint was handled, or you are not happy with our decision and wish to take it further, you may be able to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), provided that your complaint concerns a regulated activity and you fall within the classification of an "eligible complainant".

The Financial Ombudsman Service contact details