Following the collapse of the Lehman Brothers group in September 2008, customers who invested in structured investment plans which were backed by Lehman Brothers may have lost some or all of the money they invested.

We have been carrying out extensive work with firms that provided these products and with financial advisers who advised on these products, to help customers who have been affected. For more information on our findings see Related links.

It is possible that some customers have grounds to complain. Here are some things you need to know if you invested in one of these products.

This page may be updated, therefore please check regularly for any news or updates which may affect you.

Any customers who have invested in a structured investment product which was backed by Lehman Brothers. However, the information you need depends on who the provider of your products was.

If the plan you invested in was provided by NDF Administration Limited (NDFA), Defined Returns Limited (DRL) or Arc Capital and Income Plc (ACI), these firms have gone into administration. For more details see Related information.

If you invested in a Lehman Brothers-backed product provided by any other plan manager, please read on.

You should consider making a complaint against your financial adviser if you think they misled you or if you think they gave you the wrong advice. For example this might be the case if:

The first step is to contact the firm that sold you the product. Firms will have a proper complaints procedure and must tell you how to use it. This is a free service.

Although it’s possible to make a complaint in person or by telephone, it’s probably best to make your complaint in writing if you can. For more details on how to make a complaint, see If things go wrong or get a copy of our Making a complaint guide – see Related links. You should set out clearly why you think you have grounds for complaint, for example why you think your financial adviser misled you or gave you the wrong advice.

The firm must consider your complaint and will normally respond to you within eight weeks. However, they won’t necessarily agree that your complaint is justified. So it’s important that you provide as much detail as possible about why you believe that their advice was wrong for you or how they may have misled you.

Even though Lehman Brothers has gone into administration and you have lost money, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you were sold the wrong product. For example if the product was appropriate for you at the time and the adviser explained the risks, then they may reject your complaint.

If the firm rejects your complaint, you are entitled to go to the Financial Ombudsman Service (Ombudsman), who will consider your complaint and can make a binding award against the firm if the complaint is upheld. The firm you complain to must tell you about this when they respond to your complaint. If you decide to take your complaint to the Ombudsman, you must do this within six months of receiving a ‘final response’ letter from the firm.

In this case, some of the information above won’t apply to you. However, if you have any concerns about whether the product is right for you or are concerned about the performance of your investment you should speak to the firm that sold you the product.

If you were advised to invest in a structured investment product not mentioned above and you don’t think the advice was right for you, you can still complain to the person who sold you the product. See If things go wrong or get a copy of our Making a complaint guide for more details – see Related links.

It may not be in your best interest to cancel one of these products early as you might get back significantly less than you invested. You should take professional advice if you are considering this course of action.