Making a complaint

Listening to your concerns

We want to listen to you, our customer. By putting you first, we aim to improve your experience of our service.

When you tell us that you are not happy with us, we will welcome your comments and complaints. That’s because whatever you tell us gives us an opportunity to make a difference.

We will listen to you and do our best to resolve your issue there and then. You will always be treated with respect; you will get updates, answers and a decision from us without delay.

How and where to make a complaint

You'll need to provide us with:

your name
your address
your account number (if this applies)
a summary of your concerns, and;
if possible, any relevant documentation.

If your complaint is about Payment Protection Insurance, click here for more guidance.

You can make a complaint:

in person – staff in your local branch are on hand to talk to you.
by email – click here
by post – write to us at your local branch or to our Customer Care Unit, First Trust Bank, PO Box 123, 92 Ann Street, Belfast BT1 3AY.
by phone – phone 0345 6005 925^†

_{^†Lines open: 9am to 5pm Monday - Friday (except on bank holidays). Calls may be recorded. Call charges may vary - refer to your service provider.}

Our complaints procedure

We will aim to resolve your complaint, to your satisfaction, within four business days* from the date we receive it, and send you written confirmation of this.

For those complaints we can’t resolve within this timeframe the following rules will apply:

If your complaint is about a payment service we provide**

We will send you an acknowledgement letter promptly, sometimes asking you for more information, and investigate your complaint further.

We expect to be able to write to you with the outcome of a payment service complaint within 15 calendar days**, which will be our final response.

If we find any exceptional circumstances during the investigation, for example if we have to contact a third-party provider, we will write to you no later than 15 calendar days after you made the complaint. We will tell you the reason for the delay and when you can expect our final response.

Payment services can include:

lodging or withdrawing cash to/from your payment account;
carrying out a credit transfer including standing orders;
direct debits you have set up on your account;
making an electronic payment including CHAPs, Faster Payments and international payments;
using your debit or credit card to make a payment;
use of third party providers to access your account information and to make payments on your behalf.

* A business day is any day that is not a Saturday or Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a bank holiday in Northern Ireland.

** A calendar day is every day including Saturday or Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday and bank holidays in Northern Ireland.

If you are not happy after we have followed our complaints procedure, or if we have not sent you a final response or a holding response within 15 calendar days of receiving your complaint (or 35 calendar days if there has been a delay due to exceptional circumstances), you have the right to pass the matter on to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

If your complaint is not about a payment service

We will send you an acknowledgement letter promptly, sometimes asking you for more information, and investigate your complaint further.

If we have not completed our investigation within four weeks we will write to you, letting you know when it is likely to be finished.

We expect to be able to write to you with the outcome within eight weeks which will be our final response.

If this is not possible, we will advise you why there is a delay and when you can expect our final response.

If you are not happy after we have followed our complaints procedure, or if we have not informed you of the outcome within eight weeks of receiving your complaint, you have the right to pass the matter on to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Help and Guidance

Customer Care brochure

Financial Ombudsman Service

You can refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service free of charge within six months of our final response, or within six months of our letter confirming we have resolved your complaint within four business days. You can contact them at:

Financial Ombudsman Service

Exchange Tower

Harbour Exchange Square

London, E14 9SR

Telephone - 0800 023 4567 (for calls from outside the UK) +44 20 7964 1000

Internet - www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Email - complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)

If you have a complaint about First Trust Bank we always encourage you to come to us directly as detailed above.

However , if you are unable to get your complaint resolved to your satisfaction, then you may be able to submit your complaint through the online dispute resolution platform (“ODR platform”) established by the European Commission.

The ODR platform is specifically designed to help customers resident in the European Union who have bought goods or services online from traders established in the European Union.

Please note that the ODR procedure will not apply to service contracts concluded offline. You can submit your complaint online through the ODR platform here at http://ec.europa.eu/odr.

The platform will then send your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service for an independent review within 90 calendar days.

You will need:

Our Name: First Trust Bank
Our email: customer.care@aib.ie
Our website address: www.firsttrustbank.co.uk
Our geographic address: United Kingdom

You will be able to contact the Financial Conduct Authority if you think that we have not complied with the Payment Services Regulations 2017. If the non-compliance relates to cash machine charging information or access to a payment account you will be able to contact the Payment Systems Regulator.

_{Published Date 12 January 2018}