Letter of Deadlock Before Complaint to Ombudsman

This letter can be used by an individual in the United Kingdom before referring a complaint or dispute to an ombudsman.

An ombudsman is the person or entity which is formally appointed to look into complaints in a specific trade, institution or profession. This type of letter is to be sent prior to any referral to the relevant ombudsman.

The letter provides a simple template that enables a person to set out the key facts that are required to establish that the dispute is in deadlock and give the other party a final chance to resolve the dispute before it is referred to a relevant ombudsman.

Where a dispute is agreed to be in deadlock it means that both parties have reached a point where no solution can be reached due to a key disagreement regarding the dispute. If there is a business which wishes to submit a complaint, another document should be used instead.

How to use this document

Once this document has been completed, it should be sent to the other party. The letter may be posted to the other party or it can be attached electronically to an email. Where the letter is sent by post, it is useful to keep the proof of postage. Sufficient time should then be given to the other party to provide a response. The timeframe will be set out within the letter.

Where this letter is sent and no response is received within the required timeframe, the sender may then elect to refer the matter to the relevant ombudsman.

Applicable Law

The principles applied depend upon the ombudsman that covers the dispute. It is prudent to check with the relevant ombudsman whether such a letter of deadlock is required.

Help from a lawyer

You can choose to consult a lawyer if you need help.

The lawyer can answer your questions or help you through the process. You will be offered this option when you complete the document.

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.