Deadline looms to apply for free ‘banking resolution service’

Farm businesses with unresolved historical banking complaints have just one month to register for free advice through the Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS), which closes for new registrations on 14 February 2023.

Common complaints include property valuations, fraud, fees and charges, and personal guarantees, and, if successful, eligible farm businesses can qualify for up to £350,000 in compensation.

See also: Free service offers farmers help to resolve bank disputes

The BBRS was established as an independent service to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) resolve issues with banking providers.

To be eligible, complaints must have been made between 1 December 2001 to 31 March 2019, and the business should have had a turnover of between £1m and £6.5m at the time of the complaint.

Businesses that have ceased trading or merged since then may still be eligible to apply.

An online tool is available for farm businesses to check if they can apply for support.

Dirk Paterson, customer director at the BBRS, said he encouraged as many eligible SMEs as possible to make use of the free dispute resolution service.

“If you have a longstanding business banking complaint, we urge you register this with us via our website – we are available by phone, online chat, call back service and email.

“The BBRS will remain open from 14 February 2023 processing complaints in our system and registering new customers to our contemporary scheme, which is open for complaints concerning events since 2019.

“If you have a contemporary business banking complaint, please get in touch with us too and we’ll see if we can help.”