Terms & Conditions

What we will do

• We will gather as much information as possible about what has happened to you and your money. In some cases we may need you to send us documentation to support your case.

• We will then assess the circumstances to determine if you meet our internal requirements to take on your claim. If you do not, we will provide you with details on how to take your claim forward yourself. 

• If you meet our internal requirements, we will take on your claim and complain either to your bank or the bank that received your money. 

• If the bank does not deal with your complaint in a way that we think is fair to you, we will take your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and explain to them why we think you’ve been treated unfairly.

• We will keep you updated throughout the process at key milestones and at least every 6 months. 

How long will it take? 

• We will progress your case as quickly as possible but unfortunately many delays can occur depending on the circumstances of your case and particularly if your complaint needs to be reviewed by the Financial Ombudsman Service. Below are some indicative timelines:

Stage 1: Information gathering: This takes around 2 weeks. This depends on the completeness of information you’ve provided us with up front and whether we need you to send us additional documentation. Often we will be able to progress your case to a complaint to the bank once you’ve signed our terms and conditions.  

Stage 2: Complaining to your bank: Banks have 15 days or 8 weeks to respond and give you a final response depending on the nature of your complaint. Sometimes banks take a little longer to respond. 

Stage 3: Complaining to the Financial Ombudsman Service: This takes anything from 3 months up to 2 years. Unfortunately it’s difficult for us to provide any clearer timelines on cases that go to FOS at present. There are 2 internal stages at FOS. If your complaint is resolved at the early stage by a case handler it may only take a few months. However, if you or the bank are not happy with the decision it may need to go to a second stage (to an Ombudsman for a final response), in which case timelines vary and can take many years in the most extreme circumstances. 

How and when we will charge you

• You are only charged in the event that you are successful and you receive money back. At any time after our contact with the bank/FOS where a bank decides to refund you, or you receive a refund after the involvement of the Financial Ombudsman Service that we initiated, our fee is applicable.

• You must inform us as soon as you find out that you have been successful, if you are informed first.

• There are cases where you are “successful” but you do not receive the money. For example, we arrange for a debt to be written off for you. We will not charge you in these cases for the amount written off. We also will not charge you in the event that you are insolvent and any benefit of the funds you’d have received are paid to the Trustee.

• In the event that you opted to pay off existing debt rather than receive the funds, you will still have to pay our fees. 

• We only ask you to pay our fees once you know the outcome of your case. You only need to pay once you’ve received your money. 

• You may receive refunds in stages. For example, the bank may refund you half and FOS awards you the other half later on. In these cases we will charge you when you receive any refund but no more than the maximum fee. 

What is a “successful” case

• A case is deemed successful if you are returned any of the funds that you lost to the fraud from either the sending or receiving bank. 

What fees do you pay to FundsUnity?

• You pay 15% plus VAT if successful

• For larger cases fees are subject to a maximum of £10,000 plus VAT per case. As our fee is 15%, case fees are capped where you get back £66,666 or more. 

• You pay nothing if you aren’t successful

• You only pay when you receive money (see “how and when we will charge you” above)

Fees illustration. These are examples and not to be taken as estimates for refunds you will receive. The refund you receive will depend on how much you lost.