Step 3: Complain with us
After you have familiarised yourself with the role of the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services, as well as the complaints process, you may proceed with lodging your complaint if you are dissatisfied with the response that your financial services provider has sent you in writing.
Register and submit an ONLINE complaint
If the complaint is being submitted by an individual complainant or on behalf of a micro-enterprise (with only one signatory), you may proceed to lodge a complaint online. It's quick and easy.
Download and fill a complaint form in pdf (editable)
If the complaint is being submitted by one or more complainants, or on behalf of a micro-enterprise (which may require two or more signatories, such as when a product that is subject to the complaint is joint), please download and use our complaint form in pdf.
Fill in and save the complaint form on your PC or tablet, then print it. We may be able to accept hand-written complaints as long as they’re easy to read and understand.
Make sure you sign the form before you send it to us.
If more than one person is making a complaint, the form should be signed by all the complainants.
In some circumstances, we may be able to accept a scanned copy of the complaint form with supporting documents by e-mail. Please fill in this online form to enquire about this process.
You can send the signed complaint form with supporting documents by mail. Further details are available on the complaint form.
Download the complaint form in pdf
Make sure the complaint:
- is against a financial services provider that is licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority (check the Authority's financial services register, available here). The provider's name in your complaint form should be written correctly, in full and not abbreviated.
- is in Maltese or English (other languages are not accepted).
- is signed by the complainant(s) if you use the pdf complaint form. A product or service that is acquired jointly, requires both persons to sign the complaint. If you are a micro-enterprise, attach official (fiscal) documents that confirm (a) the number of employees and (b) the turnover and/or balance sheet totals. If you have supporting documents in another language, we may ask you to provide an English translation. We’ll guide you through the process after you submit your complaint.
- includes the reasons for complaining. Why are you complaining? Why do you think the provider has let you down?
- includes the remedy that is being sought. What are you expecting in return?
- has not been the subject of a law suit before a court or tribunal, or a complaint lodged with another alternative dispute resolution entity (such as an Ombudsman) in any other jurisdiction, initiated by the complainant (or complainants) on the same subject matter. If that’s the case, we may reject your complaint.
When your complaint is accepted, a complaint fee of €25 is payable to the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services, which may be reimbursable in specific circumstances (see next section).
What happens next? We will now take you through the process after your complaint is registered.