The Ombudsman has no powers of “own motion” investigation, so you must make an application to us before we can help you.
If you are a current or former Service person, and would like the Ombudsman to help you, you must:
- Fill out an application form stating what they want the Ombudsman to do and why;
- Complete the consent section of the form to show that they agree to what we can do with the information provided; and
- Send the completed application form, and any other documents asked for in the form, to us by email or post.
Once we receive the application you will receive an acknowledgement within 2 working days. If you have not heard from us after this time, please contact our Enquiries and Referrals Team on 0300 369 0689
or email us at contact@scoaf.org.uk
Please note that if you are sending your application by email the system cannot accept emails larger than 20MB. Emails that exceed the size limit will be blocked by our email system. If this happens to you, please send us separate emails and mark the subject bar accordingly.
Even though you can access our forms on smartphones and tablets, you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader to complete our forms. This application is free.
We have four different application forms. Each form covers one of the Ombudsman’s specific functions.
See below for more information on the types of applications you can make to the Ombudsman.