Complain to the organisation you’re unhappy with first
We’re the final step for unresolved complaints. This means you’ll usually need to complain to the organisation you’re unhappy with first and receive a final response. This gives it the chance to look into your concerns and put things right.
To find out how to complain about a UK government department, visit GOV.UK or contact the organisation directly.
For some services, there’s an extra step before you can come to us. For example, if you’ve complained about a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) service like Universal Credit, the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) needs to review your complaint first.
Get support to complain if you need to
If you need help complaining to the organisation you’re unhappy with, we have advice and resources to support with your complaint about a UK government department. You can also get support from an advocate.
Ask your MP to bring your complaint to us
If your complaint is about a UK government service, you need to ask your MP (Member of Parliament) to refer it to us. This is the law. Your MP or their office will need to sign your completed complaint form.
MPs consider all complaints, no matter how big or small. You can find your MP’s contact details on the UK Parliament website.
Find out more about contacting your MP on our getting help to complain about a UK government service page.
The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 allows people to bring complaints linked to their experience as a victim under the Victim’s Code directly to us, so you do not need your MP to refer it. Find out more on complaints about the Victim’s Code.
Non-UK nationals
If you have never lived in the UK or previously lived in the UK more than 15 years ago, you can ask the Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) to refer your complaint instead.
You can contact the Chair at their Westminster address or by emailing pacac@parliament.uk. The PACAC Chair can only refer complaints for people who do not have a constituency MP. Find out more about PACAC’s role, including contact details, on the PACAC website.
If you have lived in the UK within the last 15 years you need to approach the MP for the constituency you last lived in.
Complain within the time limits
Once you have a final response from the organisation you’re unhappy with, contact your MP as soon as you can. There are legal time limits for bringing a complaint to us.
You need to get your complaint to your MP within 12 months of when you became aware of the problem. Your MP will then pass it to us.
If your complaint is outside the time limit, we’re not usually able to investigate it. But there is some flexibility, and in some circumstances we may still be able to help. For example, if the organisation you’re unhappy with has taken a long time to look at your complaint, meaning it comes to us outside the time limit.
If you could not complain to us in time, we’ll talk to you to understand why. We’ll look at how much time has passed and whether we can still investigate.
If the organisation has not replied to your complaint when it said it would, or you’re running out of time, call us on 0345 015 4033. We’ll see how we can help.