A Complaint will meet the Eligibility Conditions where either:

1. the Historical Scheme Conditions at EL 2; or
2. the Contemporary Scheme Conditions at EL 4;

are met.

The Historical Scheme Conditions are:

1. Subject to (2),
   1. (a) The person making the Complaint to BBRS must be a Complainant;
   2. (b) The person dealing with BBRS on behalf of that Complainant must be Duly Authorised;
   3. (c) The Complaint must relate to a Banking Service;
   4. (d) Subject to (e), the Complaint must not relate to, or have been eligible for consideration under, an Excluded Scheme (whether or not the Complaint was actually considered under it);
   5. (e) Condition EL 2(1)(d) alone will not prevent BBRS from considering a Complaint where:

      1. (i) the Complainant complains only of distress or inconvenience caused by poor quality customer care whilst their matter was being dealt with by the Excluded Scheme; or
      2. (ii) BBRS has received a Complaint, part of which relates to an Excluded Scheme and part of which does not. In this case, condition (d) alone will not prevent BBRS from considering that part of the Complaint which does not relate to an Excluded Scheme.
   6. (f) The Complainant must have registered the Complaint with the BBRS in accordance with these Scheme Rules on or before 14 February 2023;
   7. (g) The Complaint must relate to an act or omission of a Respondent that occurred between 1 December 2001 and 31 March 2019;
   8. (h) The Complainant must have brought a complaint about that same act or omission to the relevant Respondent:
      1. (i) for acts/omissions occurring on or before 1st October 2017, by the earlier of 1st April 2019 and the last day of the applicable period under EL 2(2); or
      2. (ii) for acts/omissions occurring after 1st October 2017 but before 1st April 2019, before the expiry of 18 months following the day of the occurrence of those acts/ omissions;
   9. (i) The Complainant:
      1. (i) must not have been eligible to complain about that same act or omission to the FOS at any time (whether or not the complaint has been referred to the FOS, and whether or not the FOS has issued any decision in relation to it);
      2. (ii) must not be in Relevant Litigation over the subject matter of the Complaint with the Respondent; and
      3. (iii) must not have settled a complaint about that same act or omission in the past (for example by the Complainant accepting compensation from, or entering into a settlement agreement with, the relevant Respondent);
   10. (j) Except where the Complainant is a Recognised Assignee or Guarantor, the Complainant must have had, at the time the complaint mentioned in paragraph (h) was made to the Respondent , the financial characteristics set out in EL 3.
2. The Chief Adjudicator cannot consider a Complaint under the Historical Scheme if the Complainant brought the complaint mentioned in paragraph (h) to the Respondent more than:
   1. (a) six years after the act or omission complained of; or (if later)
   2. (b) three years from the date on which the Complainant became aware (or ought reasonably to have become aware) that it had cause for complaint,

   unless the Complainant referred the Complaint to the Respondent within that period and has a written acknowledgement or some other record of the complaint having been made, or in the view of the Chief Adjudicator the failure to comply with these time limits was as a result of exceptional circumstances.

The financial characteristics mentioned at EL 2(1)(j) are:

1. If the Complaint mentioned in EL 2(1)(h) was made (or the contract to which the Complaint relates) on or before 31 October 2009:
   1. 1. where the Complainant is a sole trader or Business Organisation other than a trust or charity:
         1. a group annual turnover of at least £1million but less than £6.5million; and
         2. a balance sheet total of less than £5million;
      2. where the Complainant is a trust, a net asset value of at least £1million but less than £5million;
      3. where the Complainant is a charity, an annual income of at least £1million but less than £6.5million;

   and in determining whether these criteria are met, the Chief Adjudicator will apply Articles 3 and 6 of the Annex to the Micro-enterprise Recommendation, taking into account in particular the Complainant’s ‘partner enterprises’ or ‘linked enterprises’ (as those are defined in the Micro-enterprise Recommendation).

2. If the Complaint mentioned in EL 2(1)(h) was made on or after 1 November 2009:
   1. where the Complainant is a sole trader or Business Organisation other than a trust or charity:
      1. either employs 10 or more persons or has a turnover and annual balance sheet each of over €2million;
      2. the annual turnover must be less than £6.5million; and
      3. the balance sheet must be less than £5million;
   2. where the Complainant is a trust, a net asset value of at least £1million but less than £5million;
   3. where the Complainant is a charity, an annual income of at least £1million but less than £6.5million.

The Contemporary Scheme Conditions are:

1. Subject to (2):
   1. The person making the Complaint to BBRS must be a Complainant meeting any of the limbs in the definition of Complainant other than (d) (that is, a Dissolved Complainant);
   2. The person dealing with BBRS on behalf of that Complainant must be Duly Authorised;
   3. The Complaint must relate to a Banking Service;
   4. Subject to (e), the Complaint must not relate to, or have been eligible for consideration under, an Excluded Scheme (whether or not the Complaint was actually considered under it);
   5. Condition EL 4(1)(d) alone will not prevent BBRS from considering a Complaint where:
      1. the Complainant complains only of distress or inconvenience caused by poor quality customer care whilst their matter was being dealt with by the Excluded Scheme; or
      2. BBRS has received a Complaint, part of which relates to an Excluded Scheme and part of which does not. In this case, condition (d) alone will not prevent BBRS from considering that part of the Complaint which does not relate to an Excluded Scheme.
   6. The Complaint must relate to an act or omission of a Respondent that occurred on or after 1 April 2019;
   7. the Complainant must have brought a complaint about that same act or omission to the relevant Respondent on or after 1 April 2019, and within the time limits set out in EL 4 (2);
   8. The Complainant:
      1. must not have been eligible to complain about that same act or omission to the FOS at any time (whether or not the complaint has been referred to the FOS, and whether or not the FOS has issued any decision in relation to it);
      2. must not be in Relevant Litigation over the subject matter of the Complaint with the Respondent; and
      3. must not have settled a complaint about that same act or omission in the past (for example by the Complainant accepting compensation from, or entering into a settlement agreement with, the relevant Respondent);
   9. Except where the Complainant is a Recognised Assignee or Guarantor, the Complainant must have had, at the time the complaint mentioned in paragraph (g) was made to the Respondent, the following financial characteristics:
      1. where the Complainant is a sole trader or a Business Organisation other than a trust or charity: an annual turnover of less than £10 million and a balance sheet total of less than £7.5 million;
      2. where the Complainant is a trust, a net asset value of less than £7.5 million;
      3. where the Complainant is a charity, an annual income less than £10 million,

      and in determining whether these criteria are met, the Chief Adjudicator will apply Articles 3 and 6 of the Annex to the Micro-enterprise Recommendation, taking into account in particular the Complainant’s ‘partner enterprises’ or ‘linked enterprises’ (as those are defined in the Micro-enterprise Recommendation).

2. The Chief Adjudicator cannot consider a Complaint under the Contemporary Scheme if the Complainant refers it to BBRS:
   1. more than six months after the date on which the Respondent notifies the Complainant that BBRS may be able to consider the Complaint provided that the Complainant refers it to BBRS within six months, that date being the later of:
      1. where the notification was made in the final response letter or in a communication accompanying the final response letter, the date of the final response letter to the Complainant; or
      2. if not notified on the date in (i), the date on which the Respondent otherwise notifies the Complainant in writing;
         provided that if there has been no notification under either (i) or (ii) then no six month time limit shall apply; or
   2. more than:
      1. six years after the act or omission complained of; or (if later)
      2. three years from the date on which the Complainant became aware (or ought reasonably to have become aware) that it had cause for complaint;

      unless the Complainant referred the Complaint to the Respondent, or to BBRS within that period and has a written acknowledgement or some other record of the complaint having been made, or in the view of the Chief Adjudicator the failure to comply with these time limits was as a result of exceptional circumstances.