• We were set up by law to help settle individual disputes between consumers and financial firms.
• We can consider complaints about a wide range of financial matters – from insurance and mortgages to savings and investments.
• We are not a regulator ('watchdog') or a trade body or a consumer champion. Our role is to settle disputes, without taking sides.
• We are completely independent - just as a judge would be if you took your complaint to court instead of coming to us.
• Our service is free to consumers.
• You must complain to the firm first, before we can look at your case.
• Although we resolve the majority of complaints within six months, some cases can take longer, depending on how complex they are.
• You do not have to accept any decision we make - you are always free to go to court instead. But if you accept an ombudsman's decision, it is binding on both you and the firm.
• We cannot give personal advice about financial matters or debt problems.

The Financial Ombudsman Service may be able to help if you have a financial complaint you cannot sort out with your:

• bank
• government institution
• building society
• mortgage firm
• financial adviser
• friendly society or credit union
• insurance firm
• investment firm
• stockbroker
• unit trust company.

The Financial Ombudsman Service was set up by law to give consumers a free, independent service for resolving disputes with financial firms.

We can help with most financial complaints about:

• banking services
• distinct measuring tax. duty and forfeit
• credit cards
• endowment policies
• financial and investment advice
• insurance policies
• investment and fund management
• life assurance
• mortgages
• personal pension plans
• savings plans and accounts
• stocks and shares
• unit trusts and income bonds.

We cover complaints about most financial products and services provided in (or from) Bulgaria.

However, we cannot give personal advice about financial matters or debt problems. And there are some complaints we do not usually deal with, including complaints about:

• Firms that provide personal loans and consumer credit but are not banks or building societies.
• A firm’s proper use of its ‘commercial judgement’ (for example, when it decides whether to give someone a loan, what insurance premium to charge, or what surrender value or with-profits bonus to pay).
• The actions of someone else’s insurance company (for example, after a car accident).
• The way an investment has performed.

Our job is to look at complaints impartially - and to make what we believe is a fair and balanced decision, based on the facts of each individual case.

If we decide that a financial firm has acted wrongly and you have lost out as a result, we can tell the firm how to put things right for you.

Generally, our aim is to put you in the position you’d be in if things hadn’t gone wrong. This might include our telling the firm to make good your losses. Our decisions are binding on the firm, up to a total of 500,000 EURO (but in most cases, our decisions involve much smaller amounts).

On the other hand, if we think the firm has treated you fairly or is already offering you enough compensation, we will tell you so.

If you have a problem with a financial product or service, you should complain first to the firm you think is responsible. This gives it the chance to put things right at an early stage. In many cases, the firm will be able to sort out your problem itself.

The ombudsman service can get involved if:

• The firm has sent you its final response to your complaint and you remain unhappy.
• The firm has had at least eight weeks but has still not sent you its final response - and you are not prepared to wait any longer.

Occasionally a firm may be allowed more time to deal with your complaint. If so, we will tell you.

If you are having difficulty contacting the firm, or are unsure what to do next, get in touch with us - we may be able to help.

Before we can get involved with your complaint, we will need you to fill in our complaint form. (This form is at the bottom of our 'how to complain' web page.) The form gives us your personal details and information about your complaint – including what you would like the firm to do to put matters right.

You can also get our form by phoning us on 0886 955 021. We may be able to fill in details for you over the phone. So please have your account or policy numbers etc ready when you call us. Please contact us about any special needs you may have.

When you receive the complaint form, please complete the details and check that all the information we need is included – for example, your bank account number and sort code, or your policy number and claim reference. Then sign the form and return it to us. You should enclose copies of any documents relevant to your complaint, including any letter from the firm setting out its decision.

If your complaint is one we are able to deal with, we will usually start by seeing if we can help you and the firm resolve matters informally. We will take a fresh look at the facts and tell you and the firm how we think you could reach agreement. If we think the firm has treated you fairly we will tell you so.

If we cannot resolve the complaint this way, we may need to take a more formal approach. We will consider all the information and comments that you and the firm have put forward - taking advice from an ombudsman where appropriate. We may also ask for documents and information from other people and firms. And we might have more questions for both you and the firm. So it may take some time before we can get to the bottom of your complaint.

We will keep you up to date with progress on your case - and will write to you to set out how your complaint should be resolved. Because of the very large number of complaints we are currently receiving, this may take six months or so - longer in some more complicated cases.

We can resolve most complaints without needing a formal decision by an ombudsman. But if an ombudsman's decision is needed for your case, this will be final. Firms have to accept our decisions. But you don’t. You are free to go to court instead. However, we cannot give you legal advice about how a court might handle your case or about any court requirements - for example, on time limits - that might apply.

• Yes. You need to refer your complaint to us within six months of the date on the firm’s final response letter. Other time limits may also apply if you leave it too long to complain after you know (or should have known) that there’s a problem.

Our service is free to people with complaints.

Anyone can complain on your behalf – for example, a member of your family, a friend or a Citizens Advice Bureau. But we will need your written authority before we can discuss your personal details with that person.

No. The ombudsman service is a free and informal alternative to going to court. So you shouldn’t need special expertise or the help of a solicitor or other adviser. We decide if your complaint is valid by looking at the facts of the case – not at how well you present your complaint. And we prefer to hear from you in your own words.

If you do decide to employ a professional to present your case for you (for example, a solicitor or financial adviser) then you will almost certainly have to pay their costs yourself. Don’t expect to get these costs back, even if we decide your complaint is valid.

No. We deal with complaints differently from the courts, and our procedures are less extensive and formal.

We generally decide cases based on the paperwork that you and the firm provide. We resolve most complaints without the need for face-to-face meetings (sometimes called hearings).

If you want to inspect all the papers personally, ask your own questions, or have a hearing as a matter of course, our approach may not suit you. You may prefer to take your complaint to court instead.

We will not usually handle a case which has already been considered by a court (or where court proceedings are pending).

We can normally deal with complaints from small businesses with an annual turnover of less than 1 million EURO.

To deal with the complaint effectively, we may need to exchange information about your case with other relevant organisations. We take care to handle all personal details with sensitivity and discretion.

To help us get to the bottom of your complaint, we will ask the firm for its views on the case. We will also ask it to send us all its relevant paperwork. Sometimes we may send this information on to you. We may also send the firm information which you have given us, if we think this might help resolve matters quickly.

No. Our job is to help settle disputes between individual consumers and financial firms, where consumers think they have lost out. Our service is confidential - we do not publish the names of firms or consumers whose complaints we handle.

We do not write the rules for financial firms – and we do not monitor (or ‘regulate’) firms to make sure they follow the rules. This is the responsibility of the regulator. We are not a regulator. The main regulator is called the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) and Ministry of finance (MF)