Complaints Policy

Complaints about our service

We will always aim to do our best but unfortunately there may be times when things go wrong. If you have a complaint about any part of our service we want to hear from you so that we can build improvements into our policies, processes and procedures.

How to contact us

• Phone: 0800 987 1789
• Email: hello@hometreefinance.co.uk

How we'll handle your complaint

We will always try to resolve your complaint as soon as we receive it. Where we can't we will send you an acknowledgement of your complaint within 48 hours.

We will work hard to resolve the problem as quickly and efficiently as possible. Where your case is complex or involves a number of issues, we may need some time to make sure that we have covered everything. We will keep you regularly informed, either by telephone or in writing, while we do so.

Our aim is to take no longer than 8 weeks to deal with even the most complicated of complaints, so at the end of eight weeks we will either let you have our final response with our decision on your complaint, or explain to you why we are still unable to give you our final response. We will also let you have further details on the Financial Ombudsman Service.

If you remain dissatisfied

If you are unhappy with our final response or our investigation has taken more than 8 weeks to reach a conclusion, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

This is a free, independent service which can consider complaints about a range of financial services matters. If you wish to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service you must do this within six months of the date of our final response.

The Financial Ombudsman Service

• Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR
• Phone: 0800 023 4567 or, from a mobile 0300 123 9123
• Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
• Website: financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Consumers do not have to accept the decision made by the Financial Ombudsman and retain their rights to go to court. However, if the decision of the Financial Ombudsman is accepted then it is binding on both you and us. You can find further details about the Financial Ombudsman Service on their website and in the leaflet that we will send you with our final response or our 8 week-update.

Your data protection rights — how to complain

In addition to your rights to complain about our financial services, you also have the right to raise concerns about how we handle your personal data.

What can you complain about?

You can make a data protection complaint if you believe we have not handled your personal data in accordance with UK data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) or Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

This includes concerns about:

• how we responded to a request to access, correct, or delete your personal data;
• how we have stored or secured your information; or
• how we have used or shared your personal data more broadly.

How to raise a data protection complaint with us

You can submit a data protection complaint to us by:

• Email: hello@hometreefinance.co.uk
• Post: Hometree Finance, The Record Hall, 6-16A Baldwin's Gardens, London, EC1N 7RJ

We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days of receiving it. We will investigate your concerns and inform you of the outcome as promptly as possible. Where we are unable to resolve your complaint immediately, we will keep you updated on progress.

If you remain dissatisfied

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data protection complaint, or if you have not received a response within a reasonable time, you have the right to escalate your complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent data protection regulator.

Information Commissioner's Office

• Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
• Phone: 0303 123 1113
• Website: ico.org.uk

Please note: data protection complaints are handled separately from complaints about our financial services and products. If your complaint relates to a financial product or service, please refer to our main complaints process above.