Financial services Ombudsman

Complaints, requirements and review

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Image of a zebra

Keeping our promise to be Out of the Ordinary

We are committed to ensuring that our financial products, our financial services, and our people deliver on our promise to be Out of the Ordinary. For this reason, we also aim to resolve complaints quickly and fairly.

Independent review of your complaint
Choosing the correct Ombudsman
When do I refer a complaint to an Ombudsman?

Independent review of your complaint

In a large institution such as Investec, it is important to understand the concept of the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman provides free, independent, and impartial services for individuals to help them resolve disputes with any financial institution.

Choosing the correct Ombudsman

Choosing the correct Ombudsman relates to the service or product you are disputing:

  • Banking Ombudsman – For disputes with banks that are members of the Banking Association.
  • FAIS Ombudsman - For disputes relating specifically to advice provided for either investments or long-term insurance services received from Financial Services providers registered with the Financial Services Conduct Authority.
  • JSE Market Regulation Department – For disputes with stockbrokers who are members of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
  • Long-Term Insurance Ombudsman – For disputes relating to insurance services received from Financial Services providers under the Long-Term Insurance Act.

 

When do I refer a complaint to an Ombudsman?

It is important to understand that disputes should only be referred to the relevant Ombudsman after you have approached Investec and received a final response from the relative department.

The Ombudsman will not deal with any dispute that has not been fully addressed by Investec first.

Ombudsman requirements

 
Ombudsman for Banking Services (OBS)

Contact details: https://www.obssa.co.za/

The OBS will only consider the complaint if it:

  • Relates to products or services provided by the bank.
  • Involves a claim of R2 million or less.
  • Arose in the past three years.
  • Is an individual, or if an entity, the annual business turnover is less than R10,000,000.

 

Financial Advisory and Services (FAIS) Ombudsman

Contact details: https://www.faisombud.co.za/

The FAIS Ombud will only consider a complaint if:

  • It involves a claim of R800,000 or less.
  • The complaint relates to an act or omission which occurred after the date of start of the FAIS Act (15 November 2002).
  • The matter is not under litigation.
  • The complaint is referred to the FAIS Ombud within six months of Investec’s final response.

 

JSE Market Regulation Department

Contact details: https://www.jse.co.za

The JSE Market Regulation Department will only consider a complaint if the:

  • Amount claimed is between R2,000 and R500,000.
  • Matter is not under litigation.
  • Complaint is less than six months old, unless the complainant can offer a reasonable explanation as to why it has taken so long to lodge a complaint.


Long-Term Insurance Ombudsman

Contact details: https://www.ombud.co.za/

The Long-Term Insurance Ombud will only consider a complaint if the matter does not relate to:

  • An insurer’s commercial judgment.
  • Purely administrative issues such as cancelling a policy
  • Complaints about short-term insurance policies, unit trusts, or other investments.
  • Complaints about pension funds.
  • Financial advice received in relation to a policy sold after 1 October 2004.
  • A complaint subject to legal proceedings instituted by the client and not withdrawn.
  • A complaint that would be better handled by a court of law.

Responsible disclosure

In order to facilitate us working together on responsibly disclosing any discovered vulnerabilities, we have provided the following guidelines:

 

At Investec, we take security very seriously and value contributions from the security community. The responsible disclosure of security vulnerabilities by the security community helps make the online world a safer place.