Compensation should be tied to a recognised loss or impact; explain what happened to you rather than choosing a number first.
Consumer complaints can involve direct financial loss, lost use of money, avoidable costs, distress, inconvenience or loss of time. Different schemes have different powers and approaches to non-financial awards.
A persuasive compensation request explains causation, duration and severity, and distinguishes normal frustration from unusually serious impact.
Key points
- Evidence direct financial losses.
- Describe time and inconvenience with examples, not inflated hourly invoices unless a legal basis exists.
- Separate compensation from refund/correction.
- Check the ombudsman or ADR scheme’s published approach.
Financial loss
Show the calculation and receipts: duplicate payments, bank charges, replacement service, travel or other reasonably caused costs. If the loss might have happened anyway, address that.
Distress and inconvenience
Explain what the failure required you to do, how long it lasted, whether it affected important services/credit/housing and whether the organisation prolonged the problem after being put on notice.
Proportionate presentation
A very high round-number demand with no analysis can distract from an otherwise strong complaint. Give a reasoned figure or ask the scheme to assess an appropriate award.
In practice
- Keep a simple impact log during a prolonged dispute.
- Save receipts and proof of fees.
- Explain especially serious consequences such as refused credit only where you can evidence the causal link.
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- List direct losses.
- Collect proof.
- Describe non-financial impact.
- Link each impact to the failure.
- Check scheme guidance/comparables.
- Request correction/refund and compensation as separate items.
Common traps
Things that often confuse the issue
- Do not claim every hour spent at a professional hourly rate without a legal basis.
- Do not count the original purchase price as “loss” if you are also asking for the full refund.
- Do not assume a regulator can award you compensation.
Evidence worth keeping
Avoid punitive arithmetic unless the legal route actually supports it.
Many complaint schemes aim for fair redress rather than punishment. Court damages also follow the applicable cause of action rather than the consumer’s understandable anger at the respondent. A carefully evidenced £350 claim is often stronger than an unexplained £5,000 demand.
Useful wording.
“My requested redress comprises: £[x] refund/reimbursement; £[y] consequential loss supported by [evidence]; and £[z]/a reasonable award for [impact] under [scheme/legal basis].”
Evidence the impact proportionately.
| Head | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Direct loss | Receipts, bank statement, invoice. |
| Additional expenditure | Replacement service, travel, phone/postage costs where recoverable. |
| Time/inconvenience | Chronology of repeated contacts and practical consequences. |
| Credit/data impact | Credit reports, declined application evidence, correction history. |
| Statutory scheme payment | Rule/code showing fixed amount or formula. |
A refund and compensation are not the same remedy.
Returning money that should never have been charged restores the consumer’s position; compensation addresses additional loss or impact. An ombudsman may also distinguish reimbursement, interest, inconvenience awards and corrective action. Keep those components separate so the business cannot describe a refund of your own money as the entirety of redress.
Compensation should be built from recognised heads, evidence and causation.
Start with direct financial loss, loss of use, additional costs, distress/inconvenience where the governing scheme or cause of action permits it, and any statutory or contractual compensation. Do not combine everything into one round figure without explaining what it represents.
Official sources
Check the rules behind this guide
There is no universal compensation tariff for all complaints. These sources show how two major ombudsman systems approach putting things right; your sector may use different rules.
These are official or primary sources for this topic. Rules, scheme terms and deadlines can change, so check the live source before relying on a formal time limit or procedure.