Complaints

If suppliers or third parties that feel Fair Payment Code Award holders are not meeting the requirements of the category of their Award or not following the principles of the Code are encouraged to report this to the FPC Team.  This evidence will be assessed and if applicable, the spot-checking process to assess whether businesses are meeting their obligations will commence. 

By signing up to the Code principles, businesses are committing to engaging with the FPC Team to address any complaints raised. Failure to engage with the FPC Team over a complaint, or evidence of bullying or harassing businesses that do make a complaint, will lead to being removed from the Code or applications rejected until evidence is provided that their payment practices have changed. 

Complainants should be aware that the requirements of the Code are that 95% of all invoices are paid within a particular timeframe. Failure to pay an invoice within the timeframe is therefore not evidence alone that a business is failing in its Code’s obligations. All evidence will be investigated but that may not always result in action taken.