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Drawer 08

AFCA called it “complex”. It is not.

AFCA’s own guideline names who gets moved to the front: hardship, family violence, a firm that failed to respond. Hold it to its list.

Subject: [their reference] — please reclassify: this complaint is not complex, and meets your own criteria for expedition

Hello,

Please reclassify my complaint [their reference]. It has been assessed as complex. It is not.

  1. One firm, [the agency]. One issue: [what happened].
  2. Rule A.13.1 lists what makes a complaint need an Ombudsman or Panel: complexity, size of loss, systemic issue, new issues of law, efficiency. None applies. There is no conflicting evidence; there is one account, uncontradicted.
  3. Your Operational Guidelines at A.8.2, “When will AFCA proceed immediately to determine a complaint?”, list the complaints you expedite: a complainant in financial hardship; a victim of family violence; a firm that has failed to respond. Documents for each that applies to me are attached.

The criteria that fit this complaint are your expedition criteria, not your complexity criteria. Please reclassify it as standard, or refer it directly to Determination under A.8.2.

Thank you,
[your full name]
today

Which body

AFCA, through the case portal or info@afca.org.au, quoting the case number.

Which clock

Check AFCA’s time-limits page for your product before lodging

AFCA Rules, section B

Which document

Anything that proves a listed criterion: the hardship letter, the protection order, the unanswered complaint.

The receipts
The rule numbers above (A.13.1, A.8.2) are AFCA’s own, as used in the letter that worked. Read them at afca.org.au under Rules and Operational Guidelines before you send, and quote the current wording.AFCA Rules and Operational Guidelines