The Financial Conduct Authority has ruled out allowing bigger SMEs to make complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Following a detailed review published today (FS23/5), the FCA says there are insufficient reasons for extending coverage as 99% of SMEs can already make complaints.

The thresholds for making complaints to the FOS will therefore remain the same as now.

Since April 2019 FCA rules have meant that more small and medium-sized businesses have been able to refer complaints to the Ombudsman service.

A small business or medium-sized business (SME) is defined by the FCA as one that has an annual turnover of less than £6.5m and employs fewer than 50 people or has a balance sheet total of less than £5m.

Before 2019, the Ombudsman service was only able to consider complaints from micro-enterprises (ones employing fewer than 10 people or with a turnover or annual balance sheet that does not exceed €2m / £1.74m).

When access was widened in 2019, which also allowed more charities and trusts to complain, the FCA said it would carry out a review within two years. However, this was postponed until this year due to the pandemic.

The delayed review was launched in March with a feedback statement and response published today.

The FCA said that the rules which came into force in 2019 have given 99% of private businesses in the UK access to the Ombudsman service with no proven need to extend this further to larger firms which have alternative methods of dispute resolution. Responses to the proposal to widen access were "mixed", the FCA said.

In its feedback the FCA said: “We consider the current thresholds strike the appropriate balance between providing access to the ombudsman service to SMEs that do not have the resources to resolve financial services disputes through the legal system and broadening this access too far.”