How long does a financial adviser or mortgage broker have to respond to a complaint? Three business days, eight weeks and six months, with the dates for one complaint and two letters to copy

An advice firm or mortgage broker has eight weeks from the day it receives a complaint to send a final response. If the complaint is resolved by close of business on the third business day after it arrives, the firm sends a shorter letter and the eight-week rules do not apply.

Both periods are in the FCA's dispute resolution rules, DISP 1, which cover mortgage brokers and most small advice firms. A MiFID investment firm handles complaints about its MiFID business under DISP 1.1A, which has its own version of the same clocks; ask compliance which your firm is.

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Complaint acknowledgement and three-day letter maker

Enter the client, the date the complaint arrived and who is handling it. The acknowledgement gives the date eight weeks on; the second letter is for a complaint resolved within three business days.

Which letterAcknowledgementResolved within three business days Client's name How the complaint reached youletteremailcall Date of the client's letter, email or call Date the firm received the complaintThe eight weeks run from this date. Who is handling the complaint The complaint, in a few words, to follow 'that'you paid an ongoing advice charge for 2025 and were not offered an annual review Date you acted on it (three-day letter only)The client must accept by close of business on the third business day after the day of receipt. What the firm did, to follow 'we' (three-day letter only)refunded the 2025 ongoing advice charge to your account and booked your review Your name Firm name

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• The eight weeks run from the date the firm received the complaint. Check the date in the letter against your complaints log.
• Use the second letter only if the client accepted your response by close of business on the third business day after the day the complaint arrived. The day it arrived is not counted.
• The second letter must carry the DISP 1 Annex 3R wording that applies, in full. The sentence in it is how that wording begins for a complaint made in time where the firm keeps the six-month limit.
• Keep the complaint record for three years from the date of receipt.

The rule this rests on: DISP 1.6.1R (acknowledgement), DISP 1.6.2R (eight weeks), DISP 1.5.1R and 1.5.4R (three business days and the summary resolution communication), DISP 1 Annex 3R, DISP 1.9.1R. A draft to check and adapt, not legal advice. Regulated work: the adviser, and the compliance function where the firm's procedures require it, reviews and signs every client-facing document and every suitability decision; the AI assistant prepares, checks and chases, it never advises.

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The clocks on one complaint

Take a complaint received on Monday 5 October 2026.

The day the complaint arrives is not counted in the three business days.

What the acknowledgement must say

The version of DISP 1.6.1R in force since 1 June 2026 requires two things in the acknowledgement: "early reassurance that it has received the complaint and is dealing with it", and a statement that the firm will send a written response within 8 weeks of receiving the complaint.

Dear [name],

Thank you for your [letter, email or call] of [date]. We received your complaint on [date received] and [name of the person handling it] is looking into it.

We will send you a written response within 8 weeks of that date, which is by [date]. We will tell you how we are getting on before then.

This is our understanding of your complaint: [summary]. If anything is wrong or missing, please tell us. Making a complaint costs you nothing.

The last sentence reflects DISP 1.3.1AR: a complaint must be free to make.

If it is resolved within three business days

A complaint counts as resolved when the client "has indicated acceptance of a response", and neither the response nor the acceptance has to be in writing (DISP 1.5.2AR). The firm must then promptly send a summary resolution communication with the five points in DISP 1.5.4R.

Dear [name],

You complained to us on [date] about [subject]. On [date] we [what the firm did], and you told us you were content with that. We now consider your complaint resolved.

If you later decide that you are not satisfied, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. [The wording from DISP 1 Annex 3R that applies.] You can find more information on its website, www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

For a complaint made in time, where the firm keeps the six-month limit, the Annex 3R wording begins: "You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge – but you must do so within six months of the date of this letter."

What the final response must contain

Under DISP 1.6.2R the final response does one of three things: it accepts the complaint and, where appropriate, offers redress; it offers redress without accepting the complaint; or it rejects the complaint and gives reasons. It must also:

1. enclose the ombudsman's standard explanatory leaflet;
2. give the ombudsman's website address;
3. say that the client may now refer the complaint to the ombudsman;
4. include the DISP 1 Annex 3R wording on the time limits.

If the firm cannot give a final response by the end of the eight weeks, it must still write by that date. That letter says why, gives a date for the final response, and carries the same leaflet, website address and right to go to the ombudsman.

What happens if the eight weeks pass

On those two figures the allowance covers the first two cases in a year in full (2 × £680 = £1,360) and £640 of the third, which leaves £40 to pay on the third. The ombudsman's page says most businesses pay no case fees.

The FCA's complaints return also counts how many complaints a firm closed within three days, within eight weeks and after eight weeks. Its timetable changes for every firm at the end of 2026: see the complaints return from 31 December 2026.

On the day a complaint arrives

1. Log it with the date received. Both clocks run from that date.
2. Send the acknowledgement.
3. Put the third business day and the eight-week date in two people's diaries.
4. Investigate "competently, diligently and impartially" (DISP 1.4.1R) and decide whether to uphold it and what redress is fair.
5. Send the final response, or the three-day letter, with every required item.
6. Record the outcome and any redress. The record is kept for three years from the date of receipt (DISP 1.9.1R).

A complaint about an ongoing charge often turns on whether the reviews were delivered, which is what the file in our evidence pack guide shows. The ombudsman levy every firm pays is in our guide to FCA fees for a mortgage broker.

The adviser, and compliance where the firm's procedures require it, reviews and signs anything a tool drafts, and that includes a complaint letter. This page is general information, not legal, regulatory or financial advice.