Time limits for pension complaints

You generally have 6 years from the act or omission you're complaining about, or 3 years from the date you first became aware (or reasonably should have become aware) that something might be wrong — whichever is later.

If the firm has sent you a final response letter, and that letter told you you have 6 months to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman, then a separate 6-month window applies from the date of that letter.

Reference: FCA Handbook DISP 2.8.2R.

The FSCS is a separate scheme with its own legal basis — the FCA's COMP sourcebook and the Limitation Act 1980 — rather than the Financial Ombudsman rules.

In practice the same 6-year and 3-year windows still matter: FSCS can only pay where you would still have a valid legal claim against the firm. There's one extra constraint FOS doesn't apply — a 15-year long-stop from the date of the original advice, after which a claim is generally time-barred.

What's different from FOS:

• No 6-month "after final response" window — the firm has failed, so there's no final response to wait for.
• Compensation is capped: currently £85,000 per eligible person, per firm for SIPP-operator and pension-advice claims where the firm failed on or after 1 April 2019 (£50,000 for failures before that date).

We check the FSCS failed-firms list for you the moment you start your free assessment.

Reference: FCA Handbook COMP; Limitation Act 1980 ss.2, 14A, 14B; FSCS eligibility rules (fscs.org.uk).

Some cases fall outside the standard FOS or FSCS framework — for example a civil claim against a SIPP operator or trustee, or where illness, bereavement, or incapacity has prevented you from complaining sooner.

We'll talk you through it. There are often more options than people realise.

Reference: Limitation Act 1980 ss.2, 5, 14A, 14B; FCA DISP 2.8.2R(3).