ConsumerWise hub
Ombudsmen & Regulators
Find the body that can actually deal with your problem - and understand the difference between individual redress and regulatory enforcement.
Choose by function
Advice, redress and enforcement are different routes.
Start with the outcome you need. An advice service helps you understand and access the system. An ombudsman or ADR scheme may decide an eligible individual dispute. A regulator or enforcement body protects wider standards and may not award your personal remedy.
Browse this area
25 guides and resources.
Start with the problem you recognise. Related pages cross-link to templates, tools, official sources and escalation routes.
Who should I complain to?
Route a problem by sector, issue and stage instead of sending the same complaint to every body.
How ombudsmen work
What it can deal with, who can use it, evidence, investigator views, final decisions, acceptance and remedies.
Jurisdiction & eligibility
Why the right body can still refuse a case if the complainant, firm, subject or timing falls outside its scheme.
Evidence for an ombudsman
How to submit a concise, indexed evidence set that shows the facts the ombudsman actually needs to determine.
Reasoned decisions
What it means for a decision to connect evidence, findings, applicable standards and conclusions.
Challenging an ombudsman decision
Identify what challenge/review route exists and focus on important error or omission rather than simply repeating disagreement.
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
The UK data-protection and information-rights regulator, including complaints about data protection, FOI and EIR.
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
The conduct regulator for financial services; regulatory intelligence is different from an individual claim for redress.
Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
Independent dispute resolution for eligible complaints about regulated financial businesses.
Ofcom
The communications regulator: sets/enforces sector rules and collects complaints intelligence.
Communications Ombudsman
An approved ADR scheme for participating telecom providers.
Energy Ombudsman
Independent dispute resolution for eligible energy complaints after deadlock or the applicable waiting period.
Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman
Investigates complaints about councils and certain other bodies where there may be fault causing injustice.
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Complaints about UK government departments and the NHS in England; it becomes the Public Service Ombudsman from 1 October 2026.
Legal Ombudsman
Complaints about poor service from legal service providers after the provider has had the opportunity to resolve the complaint.
Solicitors Regulation Authority
Regulatory concerns about solicitors and firms, particularly serious breaches of professional standards.
Housing Ombudsman
Complaints by eligible social-housing residents about member landlords and the statutory Complaint Handling Code.
Advertising Standards Authority
Use the ASA for concerns about advertising content and promotions. Keep any refund, contract or compensation claim on its separate consumer route.
Trading Standards
Trading Standards is an enforcement route, not a simple complaint desk or a route that automatically recovers your money.
Competition and Markets Authority
Use CMA material to understand market-wide consumer enforcement. Use the trader, payment, ADR or court route for your individual remedy.
Ofgem
Ofgem sets and enforces energy rules in Great Britain. Suppliers handle complaints first, with the Energy Ombudsman available after deadlock or the waiting period.
Regulator of Social Housing
The Regulator of Social Housing focuses on provider standards and systemic risks in England. The Housing Ombudsman handles eligible individual landlord complaints.
Civil Aviation Authority
The CAA regulates UK civil aviation and provides passenger-rights guidance. Individual complaints normally start with the airline or airport and may move to approved ADR.
Office of Rail and Road
ORR regulates railways and National Highways in Great Britain. Rail passengers normally pursue individual complaints through the operator and Rail Ombudsman route.
Citizens Advice consumer service
Use the consumer service for practical consumer advice and the normal Trading Standards referral route in England and Wales. Keep your redress deadlines moving separately.
Different bodies do different jobs
Regulator, ombudsman, ADR scheme and court are not interchangeable.
The correct body depends on the sector, the issue, the remedy sought and what internal process has already been completed. ConsumerWise separates individual dispute resolution from regulatory enforcement so a complaint is not sent to a body that lacks power to provide the requested outcome.
If you disagree with the external body, identify what kind of challenge is available.
Some schemes allow an investigator view to be referred to an ombudsman. Some offer a limited review for material factual error or genuinely new evidence. Service complaints and Independent Assessors usually examine service quality rather than the merits of the underlying dispute. A court claim against the original organisation is also different from judicial review of a public decision-maker.
ConsumerWise method
Do not start with the argument. Start with the record.
Use this area to work out what each body can actually do. Regulators supervise markets and professions; ombudsmen and ADR schemes usually resolve individual disputes within set rules. The correct destination depends on the organisation, issue and remedy you need.
Evidence basics Build a chronology