Customer Complaint Procedure

Contact Information

Name: Glenside Finance Limited
Telephone: 01942 466 035
Address: 9 The Parks, Haydock, Newton-le-Willows, WA12 0JQ
E-mail: info@glensidefinance.co.uk
Compliance Manager: Ian Kay

Our Procedures

Any complaint verbal or written will be referred to our Compliance Manager at the earliest opportunity or to a member of the senior management if the Compliance Manager is unavailable. We will also

• Acknowledge the complaint in writing promptly
• Make contact to seek clarification on any points where necessary
• Fully investigate the complaint
• If appropriate contact you to discuss our interim findings and proposed response

We will let you have our final response as soon as possible and not later than eight weeks. If there is any unforeseen reason why we believe that we cannot respond within eight weeks then we will contact you with our proposed timeline and make you aware of your options.

How to complain

To complain simply contact us either by phone, post or email using the above contact information. We regret that the Compliance Manager or other Managers may not always be available to speak to you directly if you wish to complain by phone. However, calls to the above number are recorded so the Compliance Manager will be able to listen to any complaint you make.

Complaints about Third Parties

As a supplier of Motor Finance, we are aware that often complaints may not necessarily be about the finance we provide. Instead, complaints may relate to the problems with the vehicle or to the advice you received prior to taking out the finance. We will still investigate such complaints to establish whether they fall within our legal responsibilities and we may seek clarification from the third party concerning the points raised. Where we believe that a complaint should be addressed by the third party then we reserve the right to forward the complaint to the third party to ask them to respond. We will clearly communicate this to you and also invite you to contact us in the event that you receive no response from the third party.

Complaints in respect of Discretionary Commission Arrangements

On 11 January 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) announced that it would be carrying out additional investigations into the payment of Discretionary Commission Arrangements (“DCA”). As a result of this investigation, the time limit for responding to complaints about DCA’s has been paused.

This pause lasts from 17 November 2023 until 4 December 2025, unless the FCA amends the expiration date. During this period, if your complaint concerns DCA then we will not necessarily need to respond to you within eight weeks. Further for complaints which involve DCA, the FCA has extended the period under which complaints can be referred to the Financial Ombudsman. This is detailed in the Final response section below.

As a general point, Glenside Finance Limited did not knowingly pay DCA to its panel of brokers. We will investigate any complaints that a commission was paid on a DCA basis and would aim to do this within the standard eight-week period. Were our investigations confirms that no DCA was paid, we will send a final response which would be subject to the standard rules for referring to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Should our investigation reveal that DCA was paid then we will notify you and confirm the next steps, such as whether the FCA’s pause applies.

Complaints in respect of Other Commission Arrangements

On 19 December 2024 the FCA confirmed that it had extended the timeframes for firms to respond to complaints about other commission arrangements. This follows the Judgment of the Court of Appeal in 3 motor finance cases on 25 October 2024. This Judgment of the Court of Appeal is currently the subject of an appeal to the Supreme Court which scheduled to be heard in 2025.

This pause lasts from 26 October until 4 December 2025, unless the FCA amends the expiration date. During this period, if your complaint concerns an allegation that a commission was paid and/or received by Glenside Finance Limited then we will not necessarily need to respond to you within eight weeks. Further for complaints of this nature, the FCA has extended the period under which complaints can be referred to the Financial Ombudsman. This is detailed in the Final response section below.

Please note that Glenside Finance Limited did not pay a commission in all cases. Upon receipt of a complaint in respect of commission, in the first instance we will acknowledge your complaint and confirm that the pause will be applied.

If we deem it appropriate to determine your complaint or aspects of your complaint prior to the expiration of the pause, then we will write separately to you or your advisers in due course. Please note that a failure to consider a commission complaint early is not an admission that commission was paid and/or received. All complaints will be determined on their own facts at an appropriate juncture.

Further information in respect of the pauses in respect of Commission arrangements

Unless the pause is further amended by the FCA then a final response in respect of a complaint concerning DCA and/or other commission arrangements will be provided by 29 January 2026 (i.e. 8 weeks following the current expiration date of the pause on 4 December 2025)

Note that pauses referred to in the above paragraphs only apply to complaints concerning DCA and/or other commission arrangements. Firms are required to proceed with all other complaints in the usual way.

Further, were the complaint concerning commission arrangements can be isolated from other aspects of a complaint then a Firm is encouraged to issue a response to the other aspects within the eight-week period.

Standard time limits in respect of the Financial Ombudsman would continue to apply in respect of complaints that do not concern DCA and/or other commission arrangements.

For more information relating to the FCA’s work in respect of commission arrangements, including the latest on any pauses, please visit https://www.fca.org.uk/carfinance

Investigation

The Compliance Manager will establish the nature and scope of your complaint having due regards to the FCA’s direction:

• Deal with complaints promptly and fairly
• Give complainants clear replies and, where appropriate, fair redress

Complaints Settled within 3 business days

Complaints that can be settled to your satisfaction within 3 business days can be recorded and communicated differently.

Where we consider a complaint to be resolved to your satisfaction under this section, we will promptly send you a ‘Summary Resolution Communication’, being a written communication from us, usually by email, which:

(1)    Refers to the fact that you have made a complaint and informs you that we now consider the complaint to have been resolved;

(2)  We will tell you that if you subsequently decide that you are dissatisfied with the resolution of the complaint you may be able to refer the complaint back to us for further consideration or alternatively refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service;

(3)  Indicates whether or not we consent to waive the relevant time limits, (where we have discretion in such matters)

(4)  Provide the website address of the Financial Ombudsman Service; and

(5)  Refer to the availability of further information on the website of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

In addition to sending you a Summary Resolution Communication, we may also use other methods to communicate the information where:

(1)  We consider that doing so may better meet your needs; or

(2)  We have already been using another method to communicate about the complaint.

Final response

This will set out clearly the firm’s decision and the reasons for it. If we uphold a complaint either in full or in part then we will set out our proposed resolution.

We will include details of the Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”) in the final response. Use of the Financial Ombudsman service by a complainant is voluntary.

• For most complaints, if the Complainant wishes to use FOS, then they have six months from the date of the final response to refer the matter to FOS. If they do not refer the matter within these six months, then the automatic right to use FOS is lost.
• If the complaint was in respect of Discretionary Commission Arrangements (DCA) and/or other commission arrangement, then your right to refer the matter to FOS will be determined by when you receive a final response.

  o For DCA complaints if you receive a final response during period beginning 12 July 2023 and ending 29 April 2025, then you may refer the matter to FOS up to and including 29 July 2026

  o For other commission arrangement complaints if you receive a final response during period beginning 20 December 2024 and ending 29 April 2025, then you may refer the matter to FOS up to and including 29 July 2026.

  o If you receive a final response during period beginning 30 April 2025 and ending 29 January 2026, then you may refer the matter to FOS within 15 months of the date of our final response.

  o If you receive a final response on or after 30 January 2026 (which means that your complaint was received on 5 December 2025 or later), then you may refer the matter to FOS within 6 months of the date of our final response.

In any event, our final response will confirm the relevant timeframe that applies. We will also indicate, in the final response, whether we would consent to FOS considering the complaint if the relevant timeframe was to expire prior to the Complainant choosing to refer the matter to FOS.

Closing a complaint

We will consider a complaint closed when we have made our final response to you. This does not prevent you from exercising any rights you may have to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Financial Ombudsman Service

We will co-operate fully with the Financial Ombudsman Service in resolving any complaints made against us in accordance with the relevant FCA rules.

If a Final Decision is made and accepted by you, then we will ensure that we follow any appropriate resolution determined by the Ombudsman without delay.

Contact

The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR

Tel:  0800 023 4567 (free for most people ringing from a fixed line) or 0300 123 9123 (cheaper for those calling using a mobile) or 020 7964 0500 (if calling from abroad)

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

Website:  www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk