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Send the issue to a body with the right powers
A regulator may investigate a firm without awarding you anything. An ombudsman may decide your complaint without policing the whole market. This directory makes that division explicit.
Choose by outcome
Do you need enforcement, advice or personal redress?
Many wasted referrals happen because the organisation regulates a market but does not decide individual compensation claims.
Use an advice service to understand rights and routes.
Report wider, repeated or serious conduct to the right regulator.
Use the trader, ADR, ombudsman, card or court route for your remedy.
Searchable directory
UK regulators and enforcement routes
Each entry separates the body’s public role from the route that can usually deal with an individual dispute.
Advertising Standards Authority
Handles complaints about advertising content and promotions under the CAP and BCAP Codes. It can require ads to change, but it does not normally award your refund or compensation.
Citizens Advice consumer service
Provides consumer advice in England and Wales and is the normal public route through which suitable information is passed to Trading Standards.
Trading Standards
Local authority services enforce consumer law and use intelligence about harmful traders. Consumers in England and Wales normally start with the Citizens Advice consumer service.
Competition and Markets Authority
Investigates market-wide competition and consumer-protection problems. It is not an ordinary case service for a single refund dispute.
Financial Conduct Authority
Regulates authorised financial firms and sets conduct rules. Individual eligible disputes normally go from the firm to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Information Commissioner's Office
Regulates data protection and oversees FOI and EIR compliance. Its complaint role differs from a damages claim or court action.
Ofcom
Regulates communications and sets sector rules. Eligible individual telecom disputes normally go from the provider to its approved ADR scheme.
Ofgem
Regulates gas and electricity markets in Great Britain. Individual supplier complaints normally go to the Energy Ombudsman after deadlock or the relevant waiting period.
Regulator of Social Housing
Regulates registered social landlords in England and focuses on provider standards and systemic risks. Individual complaints use the landlord and Housing Ombudsman route.
Civil Aviation Authority
Regulates UK civil aviation and oversees passenger-rights compliance. Complaints normally start with the airline or airport and may move to approved ADR.
Office of Rail and Road
Regulates Great Britain's railways and monitors National Highways. Individual rail complaints normally use the operator and Rail Ombudsman route.
Solicitors Regulation Authority
Regulates solicitors and law firms in England and Wales. Service complaints normally go to the Legal Ombudsman; conduct concerns may go to the SRA.
No matching body was found. Try the sector or type of problem.
Report effectively
What makes regulatory intelligence useful
A regulator may not reply about your personal outcome, but a well-structured report can still help identify patterns and risk.
- Name the regulated firm or trader precisely. Include trading names, company details, website, account or licence information.
- Describe the conduct, not only the dissatisfaction. Identify the representation, omission, unsafe practice, process failure or repeated behaviour.
- Show scale where possible. Standard terms, repeated responses and multiple examples can distinguish a pattern from one service error.
- State vulnerability or safety implications. Explain urgency and potential harm without exaggeration.
- Keep the redress route moving. A regulatory report rarely pauses a private deadline.
Route comparison
The bodies are connected, but not interchangeable
Use this quick comparison before sending a complaint.
| Body | Main purpose | Individual remedy? |
|---|---|---|
| Citizens Advice consumer service | Advice and suitable Trading Standards referral. | Advice, not a binding award. |
| Trading Standards or sector regulator | Compliance, market oversight and enforcement. | Usually not the direct route. |
| Ombudsman or ADR body | Decide eligible unresolved individual disputes. | Often yes, within scheme powers. |
| Court or tribunal | Determine legal claims within jurisdiction. | Potentially, subject to procedure and proof. |