You can usually go to the Financial Ombudsman Service after the bank’s final response, or if eight weeks have passed without one. The service is free. You do not need a claims company to use it.
What the Ombudsman looks at
It decides what is fair in that case. It can look at the payment warnings, the questions asked, vulnerability, and how the complaint itself was handled. It is not a retrial of the criminal. The scammer is rarely in the room.
From 1 April 2026, the Ombudsman’s money-award limit is £455,000 for acts or omissions on or after 1 April 2019, and £205,000 for earlier acts. Interest and some costs sit outside that cap. The mandatory bank reimbursement cap of £85,000 is a different limit. A case can be inside one and outside the other.
We only escalate a file when the bank’s letter leaves a real point unanswered. If the Ombudsman is unlikely to reach a different view, we will say that before you spend months waiting.