Letter of Complaint about Financial Advice

This Letter of Complaint about Financial Advice is designed for use by one or more people who want to complain to a financial adviser about financial advice which they have received. It may be delivered to the financial adviser who actually provided the advice, or to somebody else (such as their manager, or a complaints department within their organisation).

The letter spells out the nature of the advice that was provided, as well as how this has affected the Sender(s) of the letter. It allows the Sender(s) to provide details about their particular circumstances if they want to (for example, the fact that they have retired). Finally, it also allows the Sender(s) to provide an explanation of what they want done to resolve the matter.

This letter can be used to quickly and professionally complain to financial adviser.

This letter is specifically designed for complaints about financial advice. For more general complaints about a service provider, consider using our Service Provider Complaint Letter.

How to use this document

Enter all of the relevant details about the parties, and about the financial advice (such as parties' names and addresses, the date(s) when the advice was provided, the nature of the advice, and the consequences of the bad advice).

Once the letter has been prepared, print and sign several copies. One copy can be sent to the person or organisation to whom the complaint is being directed (such as the financial adviser). The Sender(s) may also keep a copy for their own reference.

Applicable law

There is no law in Australia that applies directly to complaint letters of this nature.

However, the finance industry is highly regulated in Australia, so various bodies of law may apply to the matter generally. This may include the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth), or the Australian Consumer Law which is set out in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Commonwealth).

Further information and guidance can also be obtained from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC").

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.