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Hosted.co.uk Complaints: How to Escalate to CISAS or Ombudsman

Hosted.co.uk Complaints: How to Escalate to CISAS or Ombudsman

The Rulebook, Not the Runaround

Complaining about a telecoms provider can feel like pushing water uphill. Calls do not get returned. Tickets get closed without resolution. The person you spoke to last week has left. Another 30 days pass. Another bill arrives.

This is the playbook to stop that cycle. It is built on OFCOM's regulated complaints framework — the same framework every telecoms provider in the UK, including Hosted.co.uk, has to follow. If you use it properly, you take the matter out of their hands within eight weeks.

We are Compare The Networks, an OFCOM-regulated business telecoms comparison service. We have been helping UK businesses since 2008 and we have walked hundreds of businesses through the complaints escalation process. This article is the step-by-step.

The Golden Rule: Keep Everything in Writing

Before you do anything else, commit to this one rule:

Never accept a verbal resolution. Keep every communication in writing.

This applies to every stage of the process. If Hosted.co.uk calls you to "discuss" the complaint, say politely: "Please put that in writing and email it to me." That is a perfectly professional thing to say to any business.

Here is why it matters: CISAS — the independent adjudicator — decides cases on written evidence. A phone call where you "agreed" to something cannot be used as evidence unless both sides have the recording, and even then, recollections differ. An email chain is unambiguous. It is time-stamped. It is admissible.

Every customer we have seen lose a CISAS case did so because they had no written evidence of what had been promised or agreed. Every customer who has won had an email trail.

Stage 1: The Formal Written Complaint

The complaints process under OFCOM's General Conditions starts with a formal written complaint to the provider. Hosted.co.uk publishes a complaints procedure — read it and follow it.

What to include in the complaint email

  1. Your account details — account number, registered business name, service address.
  2. A clear heading — "Formal complaint under OFCOM General Conditions" — so there is no ambiguity that this is a regulated complaint, not a support ticket.
  3. A timeline of facts — what you were told, when, by whom, and what happened afterwards. Keep it factual. No adjectives. Dates and sums only.
  4. What you are complaining about — be specific. "The contract term was stated as 12 months on the sales call recorded [date] but the DocuSign document signed on [date] shows 36 months." Not "you lied to me".
  5. The resolution you want — cancellation, refund, credit, service restoration, release from contract. State the sum or outcome you expect.
  6. A deadline for response — 15 working days is a reasonable ask. State that if not resolved within 8 weeks you will escalate to CISAS.
  7. An SAR request — include a formal Subject Access Request for your sales call recording, account notes and any other personal data Hosted.co.uk holds. They have 30 days to respond.

Send it to the right addresses

Email the complaint to the complaints address published on Hosted.co.uk's website. Also copy the sales agent who signed you up, and anyone you have been dealing with for account management. BCC your own personal email as backup.

If you have a postal complaints address, consider sending the complaint by post as well using Royal Mail Signed For so you have proof of delivery.

Stage 2: Waiting Out the 8 Weeks

Once your complaint is in, the clock starts. Under OFCOM General Condition C4, the provider has 8 weeks to either resolve the complaint to your satisfaction or issue a deadlock letter that says they cannot resolve it.

During those 8 weeks:

Log every communication

Keep a spreadsheet: date, time, who you spoke to, what was said. Email it to yourself so there is a timestamp. If Hosted.co.uk calls you, ask them to follow up in writing.

Do not accept "we are looking into it" as resolution

A holding response is not a resolution. The clock keeps running. When the 8 weeks are up, you can escalate regardless of where they say the investigation has got to.

Keep paying your disputed invoices under protest

This is counter-intuitive, but important. If you stop paying, Hosted.co.uk can terminate the service, add default fees, or mark your credit file. Keep paying, but mark every payment "paid under protest pending formal complaint resolution" in the reference field or by separate email. This preserves your legal position while removing the risk of service termination.

Request the deadlock letter at week 8

If Hosted.co.uk has not resolved the complaint, email them on day 56 asking for a deadlock letter. You do not have to wait for them to produce one — the 8-week expiry alone gives you the right to escalate to CISAS.

Stage 3: Escalation to CISAS

CISAS (Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme) is the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) body approved by OFCOM to handle telecoms complaints. Most UK providers — including, as far as we can publicly establish, Hosted.co.uk — are members of one of the two approved ADR schemes (CISAS or the Communications Ombudsman). If you are unsure which scheme Hosted.co.uk belongs to, OFCOM's website has the authoritative list, or you can ask Hosted.co.uk directly.

What CISAS does

CISAS is free to you (the customer). You submit your complaint online with supporting evidence. Hosted.co.uk is given the chance to respond. An independent adjudicator reviews both sides and makes a binding decision. Hosted.co.uk must comply with the decision. You do not have to accept it — you can still take the matter to court if you are unhappy — but CISAS decisions are binding on the provider.

What CISAS can award

  • Cancellation of the contract without termination fees
  • Refunds of past charges
  • Credits for future billing
  • Compensation for service failures (though typically modest sums)
  • Specific performance — forcing the provider to do something they committed to

What CISAS cannot do

  • Award large damages for consequential loss (for example, lost revenue from a week of outages — those claims go to the small claims court)
  • Rewrite a contract
  • Force Hosted.co.uk to accept a customer back after termination

How to file

Go to the CISAS website (cisas.org.uk) and use their online form. You will need:

  • Your deadlock letter, or evidence of the 8-week expiry
  • Your original complaint email and all subsequent correspondence
  • Your original contract (DocuSign PDF)
  • The sales call recording if you have obtained it via your SAR
  • Any invoices, service reports, or other evidence

The Evidence Checklist

This is what you want to have assembled before you file. The more complete it is, the stronger your case.

Contract evidence

  • Signed DocuSign or contract PDF
  • The quote or written offer that preceded it
  • Any email or chat trail from the sales period
  • Screenshots of the provider's website as it appeared at the time (Wayback Machine if necessary)

Sales evidence

  • Sales call recording (request via SAR under UK GDPR)
  • Notes made immediately after the sales call if you took any
  • Any marketing emails or promotional materials that induced you to sign

Service evidence

  • Dates and times of outages
  • Support ticket numbers
  • Screenshots of failed calls, unavailable features, or error messages
  • Statements from staff who were affected by service issues

Billing evidence

  • All invoices from the disputed period
  • Bank statements showing actual payments made
  • Invoices from your previous provider if there is an overlap
  • Your own internal records of what you think you should have been billed

Communication evidence

  • Every email sent and received
  • Every letter
  • A written log of every phone call: date, time, agent name, outcome
  • Any inconsistent explanations from different support agents

The written complaint trail

  • Your initial formal complaint email
  • Every response from Hosted.co.uk
  • Your follow-ups
  • The deadlock letter (if issued)

Can I Go to the Financial Ombudsman Instead?

A handful of Hosted.co.uk Trustpilot reviewers mention the Financial Ombudsman. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) handles disputes about financial services — banking, insurance, credit, pensions. It is not the right body for a straight telecoms complaint.

However, if Hosted.co.uk has marked your credit file, passed the debt to a debt collection agency, or charged you unlawfully via a regulated credit agreement, those aspects of the dispute may fall within the FOS remit. For most telecoms disputes, CISAS is the right forum.

Can I Go to Trading Standards or OFCOM?

You can report Hosted.co.uk to both, and doing so contributes to OFCOM's industry-wide monitoring.

  • OFCOM does not resolve individual complaints, but reports feed into its enforcement priorities. If enough customers report the same conduct, OFCOM can investigate and impose industry-wide fines.
  • Trading Standards handles consumer-protection complaints. B2B disputes are outside their usual scope, but they will still log and forward patterns of concern.
  • Action Fraud is relevant only where there is an allegation of actual fraud (deliberate deception for financial gain).

None of these replace CISAS as the route to a binding resolution. Use them as parallel routes, not substitutes.

Small Claims Court: The Backstop

If your dispute involves consequential loss that CISAS cannot award — for example, lost revenue from a multi-day switchover outage — the Small Claims track in the County Court is available for lower-value claims.

It costs a few hundred pounds to file, you do not need a solicitor, and you are claiming financial loss caused by breach of contract rather than asking for contract cancellation. This is a separate process from CISAS and can run in parallel.

Do not rush to court. Exhaust the complaints procedure first, get a paper trail, and treat court as the final step.

Common Mistakes That Cost Customers Their Case

Mistake 1: Accepting a verbal resolution

Every time. A phone call is not evidence.

Mistake 2: Withholding payment

It gives Hosted.co.uk grounds to terminate and adds debt recovery into the mix. Pay under protest.

Mistake 3: Waiting too long

CISAS usually requires you to escalate within 12 months of the deadlock or 8-week expiry. Do not sit on a deadlock letter.

Mistake 4: Being emotional in writing

Stick to facts, dates and sums. Adjectives weaken a complaint.

Mistake 5: Not requesting the sales call recording

This is the single most useful piece of evidence in a misselling complaint. Request it on day one.

Mistake 6: Filing CISAS without the full evidence pack

You get one shot. Prepare the full evidence pack before filing.

What About If I Signed By DocuSign?

DocuSign is legally binding. It is not grounds to cancel a contract by itself. But if the DocuSign signature was obtained by misrepresentation — for example, you were told the term was 12 months but the document said 36 — that is a misselling matter, and CISAS will consider it. See our article on Hosted.co.uk misselling for more on this.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to wait before escalating to CISAS?

8 weeks from the date of your formal written complaint, or sooner if Hosted.co.uk issues a deadlock letter. If the provider has not resolved the complaint in 8 weeks, you can go to CISAS regardless of what they say.

Is CISAS free to use?

Yes. CISAS is free to the customer. Providers pay a case fee, which is part of what creates an incentive to resolve complaints before they are escalated.

Do I need a solicitor to complain about Hosted.co.uk?

No. The entire process — internal complaint, CISAS, even small claims court — is designed to be accessible to businesses without legal representation. Clear written evidence matters far more than legal drafting.

What if Hosted.co.uk calls me during the complaints process?

Ask them to put everything in writing. Do not agree to anything on the call. "Please email me your response so I can review it properly" is the phrase to use.

Can I complain to OFCOM instead of CISAS?

OFCOM does not resolve individual complaints. It oversees ADR schemes like CISAS and takes industry-wide action. For your specific dispute, CISAS (or the Communications Ombudsman, depending on which scheme the provider belongs to) is the correct forum.

Ready to Move On?

Whether your complaint is resolved in your favour or you have to wait out the contract, know what the wider market looks like. Get a free VoIP comparison from Compare The Networks. Written quote, no cold call, no pressure.

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About this article. Claims reported here are attributed to public reviews on Trustpilot and similar platforms. They represent the opinions of the reviewers cited, not statements of fact by Compare The Networks. Brands named may dispute these claims. If you are a brand representative who believes any content requires correction, please contact us.

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