Should I Contact Investment Company While 11 Week Old Complaint Is Being Looked At, Or Just Go To The Ombudsman ?

[CW1]

I made a complaint to an investment company over 11 weeks ago now, about several things including non transparency of charges, but the main complaint is a Bond I'd asked the wealth manager to close & move to an ISA last tax year (& the remainder this tax year), a request completely ignored where he just basically said, "We're busy". That meant I didn't use my ISA allowance last year, & haven't this year yet. Still nothing's happened & the Bond just isn't performing, & I want it shut down.

I haven't been in touch with the company direct yet as I appreciate it's quite a complicated situation, & I didn't want to maybe complicate it any more, but I've heard nothing for over 3 weeks, & then was just "we need more time but you can now take complaint to Ombudsman". As it stands I see little point in going to the Ombudsman until the investment company has sent their decision letter, but meantime this Bond needs closing down.

The longer this goes on the worse the results of their inaction, but I don't want to then be asked by the Ombudsman why I didn't contact the company direct, sooner. So, would it be better to wait for a decision letter, or contact the company direct, just to get the Bond moved now ?

[Old_Geezer]

I tend to think, "Why not ?". Nothing to lose, and it may hurry them up a bit.

[CW1]

Only reason I guess is that it would complicate any compensation that is so obviously due (I should never have been "advised" to take out the Bond in the 1st place, I was never given any of the other options that I only became aware of a year later but which wouldn't have made the wealth manager the fees the Bond did, therefore he never suggested them). There would undoubtedly be hefty fees for moving the Bond now if it were done direct with the investment company, hence my original comment about complicating the situation more. But I'm wary that the Ombudsman won't accept that as a reason.

At the moment I'm hoping the "updates" are on a 4 week cycle, having had a "We need more time" after 4 weeks then again after 8. It'll be 12 weeks in a couple of days.