Start with a formal complaint to the exchange, but do not assume FCA registration makes your crypto holdings eligible for Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) or Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection. Identify the exact legal entity and service, preserve transaction evidence, set out the loss and remedy you want, and keep proof of submission. The firm normally has eight weeks to issue a final response. If the dispute concerns an eligible regulated payment or account service, you may then have six months to refer it to FOS. A complaint solely about an unregulated crypto trade, valuation or withdrawal may fall outside FOS jurisdiction.
This guide explains the UK complaint route, the limits of compensation, and what to do when a bank, card issuer or e-money provider was also involved.
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1. Check what you are actually complaining about
“The exchange” may not be a single regulated business. Your account could involve a UK company, an overseas affiliate, a banking partner, a custody provider and a separate payment processor. The legal entity named in your terms and conditions is the business you should address first.
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Confirm the legal entity and service
Save the exchange’s terms, privacy notice, company details, complaint instructions and the name shown on your statements. Check the firm’s entry on the FCA Financial Services Register and note exactly what permission or registration it has. An entry under the UK cryptoasset anti-money-laundering regime is not the same as authorisation for every financial service.
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Record whether your issue concerns:
- a crypto purchase or sale;
- the exchange’s custody or withdrawal process;
- a fiat deposit or withdrawal;
- a payment account or e-money account;
- identity or account restrictions;
- fraud warnings or intervention before a payment; or
- misleading statements, contract breaches or negligence.
That classification matters because most crypto-related activities are not regulated in the UK. The FCA says that registration as a cryptoasset business does not itself give customers access to FOS or FSCS protection.
2. Preserve evidence before contacting support
Do not rely on an exchange leaving your records available. Download statements and transaction histories while you can, and keep the originals in a separate, read-only location. Make a dated chronology from the first relevant contact to the present.
Evidence checklist
- Account statements and CSV exports.
- Crypto and fiat amounts, exchange rates shown, fees and the relevant currency.
- Transaction IDs, blockchain hashes and destination or source wallet addresses.
- Dates and times of deposits, purchases, withdrawals, freezes and failed transactions.
- Screenshots of balances, error messages, withdrawal instructions, warnings and advertised claims.
- Emails, live-chat transcripts, support tickets and the names or reference numbers of staff.
- Identity-verification records and requests for additional documents.
- Bank, card or e-money statements showing the payment into or out of the exchange.
- The terms and conditions and any risk disclosures that applied on the transaction date.
- Details of a scam advert, impersonator or social-media account if one caused the payment.
- Evidence of consequential losses, such as reasonable bank charges or documented costs incurred trying to recover funds.
Keep copies, not originals, with the complaint. A simple chronology should state what happened, who acted, the amount involved, and what evidence proves each entry.
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3. Send a formal complaint to the exchange
Use the published complaints address or web form in the firm’s complaint procedure. Live chat alone is not enough unless the firm confirms that it has opened a formal complaint. The FCA advises consumers to make a record of how and when they got in touch.
What to include
- Identify yourself and the account: give your name, customer or account number, registered email address and any previous support references.
- List each disputed event: state the date, amount, asset, transaction ID, wallet address and the fiat value shown at the time.
- Describe the conduct: explain what the exchange did or failed to do, including any delay, refusal, account restriction, inaccurate information, missing warning or failure to follow its own terms.
- Explain why it was wrong: relate the conduct to the contract, a representation made to you, fairness, negligence or an applicable regulatory obligation. Avoid unsupported legal conclusions.
- Calculate the loss: separate the principal, fees, exchange-rate loss, interest and any consequential loss. Explain the calculation and attach a schedule.
- State the remedy: ask specifically for restoration or payment of the disputed amount, release of funds, correction of records, reimbursement of fees, interest or compensation for distress and inconvenience where appropriate.
- Attach evidence: send copies with clear filenames and refer to them in the chronology.
- Request a final response: ask the firm to treat the letter as a formal complaint and to issue its final response under its complaint procedure.
Keep the sent email, upload confirmation, postal receipt and any automated complaint reference. If you submit through a portal, take a dated screenshot of the confirmation page.
4. Understand the response deadlines
If the firm resolves a complaint within three business days, it may send a short summary response. Otherwise, the ordinary FCA complaint process generally gives it eight weeks to send a final response or explain why it cannot do so.
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Some complaints about payment services or electronic money have shorter deadlines: a response may be due within 15 business days, with a maximum of 35 business days in permitted circumstances. The firm should explain the applicable timetable if it treats your complaint under those rules.
What a final response should contain
- The firm’s decision and the reasons for it.
- Any amount it offers, how it was calculated and when it will be paid.
- Any action it will take, such as releasing an account or correcting data.
- Information about referral to FOS where the complaint is within its jurisdiction.
- The date by which a FOS referral must be made, normally six months from the final response.
An acknowledgement, a generic “we are investigating” message or a support-agent promise is not necessarily a final response. If eight weeks pass without one, ask FOS whether it can accept a referral based on the elapsed time and keep pursuing the exchange in writing.
5. Separate FCA registration from consumer protection
The FCA states that most crypto-related activities are not regulated. A firm may be registered for anti-money-laundering supervision while the spot crypto service itself remains outside the regulated-perimeter protections that consumers expect from a bank or investment firm.
FCA registration therefore does not guarantee:
- that FOS can investigate every dispute;
- that FSCS will reimburse crypto held with the firm;
- that your coins will be returned if the exchange fails; or
- that a crypto transaction can be reversed.
Look at the activity and the legal entity, not just a logo or registration claim. The relevant question is whether the disputed act was a regulated financial service, a payment service or an unregulated crypto activity.
6. Decide whether the Financial Ombudsman Service can help
FOS is free and independent. It can direct a firm to repay money, add interest, correct records or pay for distress and inconvenience. An accepted final ombudsman decision binds the firm. FOS jurisdiction is fact-specific, so do not treat an exchange’s registration as an automatic invitation to use the scheme.
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A complaint solely about the operation, market value, investment performance or withdrawal of an unregulated cryptoasset may be excluded. FOS generally cannot turn an unregulated spot-crypto dispute into a protected investment claim simply because a registered business processed it.
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Complaints that may be within scope
A linked complaint about a regulated bank, payment institution or e-money account can be different. FOS may examine whether that provider:
- accepted or executed a payment improperly;
- failed to apply its own fraud controls or warnings;
- restricted or closed an account unfairly;
- ignored information indicating an authorised push-payment scam; or
- handled a regulated deposit or payment service incorrectly before the crypto purchase.
In 2026 Decision Reference DRN-6261165, FOS treated cryptocurrency withdrawals as outside scope in that case, while considering deposits and the account’s use to exchange funds. The outcome depended on the particular service and facts, not on the existence of a crypto label.
How to refer an eligible complaint
- Wait for the exchange or payment provider’s final response, unless the applicable eight-week period has expired.
- Check the final-response date and the six-month referral deadline.
- Use the reference number supplied by the firm and describe the regulated service you say is in dispute.
- Upload the complaint, chronology, evidence, loss schedule and final response.
- Explain the remedy sought and identify which facts are disputed.
- Respond promptly to FOS questions and tell it about any settlement or court proceedings.
FOS normally considers the evidence and fairness of the firm’s actions rather than conducting a criminal investigation or guaranteeing recovery of cryptocurrency. Its service is free to consumers.
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For cases referred on or after 1 April 2026 concerning acts or omissions from 1 April 2019, the compulsory FOS award limit is £455,000. FOS may recommend that a firm pay more, but it cannot compel payment above the limit. The limit applies to the qualifying complaint and does not turn an otherwise ineligible crypto dispute into an eligible one.
7. Complain separately to a bank, card issuer or payment provider
If money moved through a bank, card issuer or e-money provider, make a separate complaint about that provider’s own conduct. Do not assume that an exchange complaint covers a payment firm.
Describe the payment date, amount, recipient details, warnings shown, conversations with staff, and what the provider knew or should have known. Ask it to investigate payment execution, account controls, fraud intervention and any failure to follow its applicable rules.
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Crypto payments can be difficult to reverse. The Payment Systems Regulator’s authorised push-payment scam reimbursement rules can exclude payments made to purchase cryptocurrency, as reflected in FOS Decision Reference DRN-6261165. That exclusion does not prevent a complaint about other failings by the bank or payment provider, but it means you should not promise yourself automatic reimbursement.
Report suspected fraud through the FCA’s scam-reporting route and the relevant UK fraud-reporting service. Preserve the report number and give it to the firms handling your complaint.
8. Understand FSCS limits
FSCS protection applies only when an eligible authorised firm and covered activity meet the scheme’s rules. Ordinary unregulated spot crypto held on an exchange is usually outside that protection. If an exchange fails, an FCA registration or anti-money-laundering entry does not by itself create an FSCS claim.
Check whether your loss instead concerns a separately authorised bank or investment service and whether the failed activity falls within the relevant FSCS category. Ask FSCS for a current eligibility decision rather than relying on marketing language or a firm’s registration badge.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.9. If FOS or FSCS is unavailable
Ask about voluntary dispute resolution
Some firms offer a contractual or voluntary review process. Ask for its rules, independence, costs and whether accepting an outcome waives court rights. A voluntary scheme is not the same as FOS and may not have the same powers.
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Check insolvency or administration information
Look for formal notices, administrator contact details and proof-of-debt instructions. Submit a claim by the stated deadline and keep evidence of the balance and ownership of each asset. An insolvency distribution may be delayed and may not equal the account balance.
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Consider court action
A court may hear contract, negligence, fraud or other causes of action where you can prove the legal elements, loss, jurisdiction and limitation period. Cross-border terms can require proceedings in another country. Obtain independent legal advice before issuing a claim, especially where wallet tracing, insolvency or an overseas defendant is involved.
Court proceedings carry filing fees, legal costs and enforcement risk. A claims-management company is optional; the FCA says consumers can complain themselves for free. Compare any fee with the amount and likelihood of recovery before signing an agreement.
10. Build a defensible compensation calculation
Separate amounts that can be shown directly from amounts that depend on assumptions. A clear schedule might contain:
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches| Loss category | What to show | Common evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Principal | Fiat paid or crypto quantity transferred | Bank statement, exchange statement, transaction hash |
| Fees | Trading, withdrawal, network or bank charges | Fee line, receipt or statement |
| Value difference | How the claimed price was selected and at what date | Exchange record and a transparent calculation |
| Interest | Rate, start date and legal or contractual basis | Calculation sheet and supporting term |
| Consequential loss | Loss caused by the specific failure, not a hoped-for market gain | Invoices, correspondence and a causal explanation |
| Distress and inconvenience | Practical impact supported by a concise account | Chronology and relevant records |
Do not claim an unrealised gain merely because the asset later rose in value unless a legal adviser confirms that measure is appropriate. State whether you seek the crypto itself, its fiat equivalent at a particular date, or another remedy; those are different outcomes.
11. Compare the available routes
| Route | What it can examine | Cost | Deadline or limit | When it is useful |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange internal complaint | The exchange’s own conduct and contract | Usually free | Normally six years from the problem, or three years from becoming aware of cause to complain; response normally within eight weeks | Always the first step |
| Financial Ombudsman Service | Eligible regulated financial activities and linked payment or account conduct | Free | Usually six months from final response; £455,000 compulsory limit for qualifying referrals from 1 April 2026 | Best formal redress route where jurisdiction applies |
| FSCS | Failure of eligible authorised firms and covered activities | Free | Scheme-specific | Usually unavailable for ordinary unregulated spot crypto |
| Bank, card or payment-provider complaint | That provider’s payment execution, fraud controls or account conduct | Usually free | Provider, payment and complaint rules apply | Useful when another provider contributed to the loss |
| Court or solicitor | Contract, negligence, fraud and other legal causes | Fees and cost risk | Case-specific limitation periods | Consider when schemes are unavailable, rejected or insufficient |
12. Avoid mistakes that weaken a complaint
- Sending only a chat message: use the formal complaint channel and obtain a reference.
- Addressing the wrong company: match the legal entity in the terms and statements.
- Using a headline balance: identify each transaction and show the calculation.
- Assuming registration equals protection: test the exact service against FOS and FSCS rules.
- Missing the six-month FOS deadline: diarise it when the final response arrives.
- Sending originals or incomplete exports: preserve an untouched evidence set.
- Mixing complaints: complain separately about the exchange and any bank or payment provider.
- Paying a claims company without checking the fee: compare its percentage or fixed charge with a free self-submitted complaint.
- Continuing to send funds to an alleged recovery agent: verify any contact independently; genuine investigators do not require further crypto transfers to unlock a refund.
13. Regulatory change to keep checking
The FCA has stated that its final cryptoasset rules are due on 30 June 2026, with permissions for relevant firms from 25 October 2027. These dates describe the planned regulatory timetable and do not retroactively make an earlier unregulated transaction eligible for FOS or FSCS. Check the FCA, FOS and the exchange’s current information when you file, because the applicable perimeter can change.
The FCA’s consumer guidance puts the starting point plainly: “If you feel like you’ve been treated unfairly by a financial business, or if you’re unhappy with a financial service, you have the right to complain.” That right lets you demand an answer; it does not guarantee that the answer will be a refund or that a crypto dispute will fall within a statutory compensation scheme.
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