FCA complaints return: every firm's reporting period ends on 31 December 2026, and the dates for an advice firm or mortgage broker with a 31 March year end

On 31 December 2026 the complaints reporting period of every FCA-authorised firm ends, whatever its year end. From 1 January 2027 every firm reports complaints for the same two periods, 1 January to 30 June and 1 July to 31 December, on one new return.

A firm with no complaints is still caught: it files a nil return for each period.

What changes, and where it is written

The switch is made by one rule, DISP 1.10.4BR, in force since 7 April 2026: "All firms' reporting period end on 31 December 2026 and the report provided in accordance with DISP 1.10.1R should only be a partial return covering the period since its previous report."

The FCA's policy statement, PS25/19, gives one example. A firm with a 31 October year end reports "the 2 month period 1 November 2026 to 31 December 2026" on the existing return. It then confirms that "the first 6-monthly reporting period for the new return is 1 January 2027 to 30 June 2027" and that it expects to receive that data from 1 July 2027.

One firm's dates

Take an advice firm or mortgage broker in England with a 31 March year end. Its periods today are April to September and October to March.

That is three returns due in nine months, where the firm would normally file two in a year.

We counted 30 weekdays from the day after each period ends and left out the bank holidays GOV.UK lists for England and Wales. After 31 December 2026 the count skips Friday 1 January 2027, so day 1 is Monday 4 January and day 30 is Friday 12 February. Scotland's bank holidays on 4 January and 2 August 2027 move the second and third dates to Monday 15 February and Thursday 12 August. The FCA's reporting system shows the due date for your firm, and that is the one to work to.

A firm whose year ends on 30 June or 31 December has no short period, because its periods already match the calendar. Every other firm that reports twice a year has one, and it is shorter than six months.

What the new return asks for

From the rules made with PS25/19, as they will appear in DISP 1.10 on 31 December 2026, each return counts:

• complaints opened and closed in the period, and complaints outstanding at its start;
• complaints closed within 3 days, closed within 8 weeks but after 3 days, closed after 8 weeks, and still open after more than 8 weeks;
• complaints upheld, the redress paid on upheld complaints and on complaints not upheld, and the highest single amount;
• four counts on vulnerability: complaints opened and closed by consumers identified as vulnerable, and complaints opened and closed that relate to the firm's failure to consider or respond to a consumer's vulnerability.

The product and service headings that complaints are reported against were also updated. We have not reproduced the list; it is in the instrument attached to PS25/19 (FCA 2025/53).

A complaints log to copy

A firm that logs each complaint with these columns from 1 January 2027 can answer the return from the log.

Five jobs before 31 December 2026

1. Look up your accounting reference date and write your own version of the dates table.
2. Add the two vulnerability columns to the complaints log now, so staff are used to them before the first new period starts.
3. If you file a joint report with another firm in your group, set up a separate log and a separate return for each firm.
4. Name the person who files, and their cover. A nil return still has a due date.
5. Put the due dates in the diary. On 1 October 2026 the charge for a return that is not complete by its due date was an administrative fee of £100 (SUP 16.3.14R, applied to this return by DISP 1.10.6AR).

The time bands in the return are the same ones that govern each complaint. Our guide to how long a firm has to answer a complaint sets them out with a worked date. Complaint records are kept for three years, as the retention guide shows, and the same figures belong in the Consumer Duty board report. The return is free to file; what the FCA charges a broker each year is in our guide to FCA fees for a mortgage broker.

If a tool keeps the log or drafts the return, the adviser, and compliance where the firm's procedures require it, reviews and signs anything it drafts. This page is general information, not regulatory or financial advice.