Join FDR

Membership of FDR is available to any financial service provider supplying financial services or advice to retail clients in New Zealand.

Why choose FDR?

Becoming a member of the FDR scheme completes one of the critical steps in becoming registered to operate as a Financial Service Provider. FDR is independent of any industry, organisation or scheme member, and was established by the Government to ensure a dispute resolution scheme is available for all types of financial service providers. More information is available below.

There are different types of membership available - please use the step-by-step process below to determine what type of membership is appropriate for you and your organisation.

Next steps

Once you have applied to become an FDR Scheme Member you can then go on to formally register with the Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR). The registration process requires you to provide the name of your dispute resolution scheme – select Financial Dispute Resolution Scheme (FDR).

In order to use the FSPR website you will need an igovt log-in. An igovt account allows people to use the same logon (username, password) across various government online services that are part of the igovt programme, which removes the need for multiple logon details for different services. If you already have an igovt logon you won't need to create a new one, simply enter your user name and password. You can create an igovt logon on the FSPR website, or call on 0508 377 746 (0508 FSPR INFO). There are some good flowcharts that explain the process on the FSPR website, here.

Scheme Member responsibilities

All Scheme Members have responsibilities under legislation, and are bound by the FDR Scheme Rules.

Other key responsibilities are:

• Agreement to be bound by any decision made by FDR
• Agreement to pay all fees due to FDR
• Agreement to provide all the required information regarding a dispute
• Adhering to any relevant industry codes
• Promoting your membership of FDR to your consumers

All dispute resolution Scheme Members are required to have an internal complaints procedure in place. FDR has developed guidelines for establishing a complaints-handling procedure, which is provided to all Scheme Members freeof charge. 

Costs and membership fees

The FDR scheme is funded by Government and by Scheme Members. There is an annual membership fee, determined by membership type, and a cost-per-complaint charge. This means that if there are no complaints against you, your only cost will be the membership fee.

This page contains all of the information about FDR fees.

Why FDR?

FDR has been developed and is operated by Dispute Resolution Services Ltd (DRSL), an award-winning, nationwide company with extensive public and private sector experience. DRSL has been in operation for over ten years, providing the primary dispute resolution service for the ACC, and more recently for the telecommunication industry as the Scheme Provider for the Telecommunication Dispute Resolution service (TDR). 

With the support of DRSL, FDR provides a comprehensive and professional dispute resolution service. It has been designed in conjunction with the New Zealand Government as part of a new financial sector regime aiming to provide greater accountability and transparency. FDR is fully independent; not aligned with any industry sectors or groups.

FDR will resolve disputes efficiently and effectively, using the systems and knowledge provided by DRSL.

FDR has access to a network of independent financial sector consultants it will work with on FDR disputes. These include industry representatives and consumer rights specialists, who accurately reflect the market, current best practice and reasonable consumer expectations.

FDR also provides all Scheme Members with advice and support regarding setting up an efficient and effective internal complaint system.

How the FDR scheme works

Any financial service provider giving financial services or advice to retail clients can join the FDR scheme. Clients of scheme members can take complaints about the Scheme Member to FDR, and FDR will work though a process to resolve the dispute.

The dispute resolution process is split into three levels, and complaints escalate through the levels until a resolution is reached. FDR aims to have disputes resolved as early as possible in the process, depending on the complexity of the complaint.

There are restrictions about the types of complaints FDR can take from consumers. FDR will not accept a complaint unless it has been made to the Scheme Member first, and the Scheme Member has had an opportunity to resolve it. The complaint needs to be at "deadlock" – where there no resolution between the parties, or if more than three months have passed and there is still no resolution. The complaint can be brought to FDR before either of these situations occurs, if all parties agree.

FDR cannot accept complaints about a Scheme Member’s prices, its general policies and practices, nor commercial judgements. FDR cannot award compensation over $200,000.

See more information about how the FDR scheme works, click here.

Types of disputes covered

The formal FDR jurisdiction is to consider complaints if:

• The complaint is about a Scheme Member, or, if the financial service provider is no longer a member of FDR, the complaint is about an event that happened while the financial service provider was a Scheme Member
• A complaint may relate to an alleged breach of a contract, a statutory obligation, an industry code, or any other legal obligation or to an unfair practice (but need not be stated in this way in the complaint).
• The complaint is from a person or organisation (defined as having fewer than 20 full-time equivalent employees) that has received, or has been refused access to, the financial service complained about.
• The consumer is a retail client

FDR also has the discretion to accept other complaints that fall outside of these definitions. For more information, see the FAQ page for what types of disputes are covered.