Financial Services Complaints Limited: Who Qualifies and What You Get
Learn how to use this free service to resolve disputes with your financial service providers in New Zealand.
Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL) is an independent dispute resolution scheme designed to help resolve disagreements between consumers and their financial service providers in New Zealand.
Who it's for
This scheme is specifically for clients of financial service providers. If you are a customer or a client of a firm that belongs to this scheme and you have a dispute regarding the services you have received, you may be able to use this service to reach a resolution.
What you get
You receive access to a free dispute resolution service. This service is intended to provide a way to settle disagreements without the need for expensive legal action, offering a structured way to address grievances with your financial provider.
What it costs you
Using this service is free of charge. You do not need to pay a fee to access the dispute resolution process provided by this independent scheme.
The catch to know
The most important thing to understand is that you cannot go directly to this scheme to lodge a claim the moment a problem arises. You must first exhaust the provider's internal complaints process. This means you are required to follow your financial provider's specific steps for handling grievances and wait for them to issue a final response to your issue before this scheme will step in to help.
How to apply
- Identify the financial service provider involved in your dispute.
- Follow the provider's internal complaints procedure to lodge your grievance.
- Wait for the provider to complete their investigation and provide you with a final decision.
- If the internal process does not resolve your issue, visit the official portal to initiate a claim through the scheme.