Question 39
Can I use a claims management company (CMC) to complain to TPO?
A CMC is a firm or individual which can handle a complaint on your behalf.
Our service is designed so that people should not normally need professional help. But if you do need help, you can appoint a representative to act on your behalf when you complete your application. This could be a friend, family member or a CMC. If you decide to use a CMC, they will charge you for the service. The value you get from using a CMC may depend on the type of claim you are making and how easy it would have been to make the claim yourself.
Before appointing a CMC, you should know:
- you can bring a complaint to TPO for free
- you don’t have to use a CMC or any other representative
- you are unlikely to get any costs repaid, even if your complaint is upheld
If you want to appoint a CMC for a complaint to TPO, you should complete the online application yourself, and tick ‘Yes’ when asked if you are ‘appointing someone to represent you’. You will then need to include the CMC’s details. As with any other representative, we will write to the CMC directly throughout the complaint process, not to you.
It is important that all the information provided by you or your representative, including any documents included with your application, are accurate and relevant to your specific complaint, and do not contain facts or allegations which are known to be false, or which are unconnected to your complaint.
Related questions
When someone asks us to look into a problem, they have often been trying to resolve it for some time. A lot of people feel very frustrated or distressed.
We have to be impartial and look into a problem without taking sides. Sometimes a decision that is fair in a legal sense may not seem fair to you personally.
We will always be open and honest with you about how and why we have made our decisions.
Please see our ‘How we investigate complaints’ factsheet for more details on our process and what this means to you.
Before you submit a complaint to us, you need to give the party you think is at fault a chance to put things right.
Many pension schemes or providers have their own complaints process, which is often the best way to make sure your complaint is seen by the relevant people as quickly as possible.
If your complaint is about an occupational pension scheme, you should ask for it to be dealt with under its Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure (IDRP).
See our factsheet ‘Complaining to the party/parties at fault’ for more information.
If you are not sure who you should complain to, please contact us.