Your Simple Guide to Forex Brokers Refund

Forex brokers refund may be available in individual cases. However, forex brokers do not give money back for normal market situations.

Forex brokers' refund is one of the most contentious topics among traders. Do forex brokers refund your money when you suffer devastating losses? Do forex brokers refund your money when orders are unexecuted due to slippages? Here is the answer.

Forex Brokers Will Refund Your Money If...

Forex brokers may offer refunds in individual cases when there are substantial proofs that they are at fault, such as server malfunctions and others.

They generally have different refund policies, so it is imperative that traders comprehend the particular refund policies of the broker they have selected.

Typically, brokers only provide refunds in three circumstances:

1. Technical issues when the broker is at fault, such as server failure, uncredited deposits, etc.
2. Legal issues that arise when the broker is considered culpable although it does not actively participate in the case, such as hacked accounts, funds transferred to people other than the account owner, etc.
3. Corporate actions, such as bankruptcy, mergers, and acquisitions.

Forex Brokers Will Not Refund Your Money If...

• Losses incurred during your own trading activities.
• Fees charged for trade transactions.
• Your own network problems or power failure.
• Price slippages and/or requotes.
• Forced or delayed execution due to volatile market condition.
• Hacked accounts due to unsafe gadgets or your failure to store passwords securely.

There may also be other situations in which the broker is not legally responsible for the losses because the losses are not covered under the broker's refund policy.

In other words, forex brokers do not give money back for trading losses, slippages, and other circumstances categorized as normal market situations and uncovered by their refund policies.

How to Get a Refund from Your Broker

You should first ascertain whether your chosen broker can indeed be held liable and has to pay back your money. In the circumstances regarding technical and legal issues, you have to provide solid evidence that:

1. You have suffered losses.
2. The losses were caused by your brokers' professional incompetence.
3. The broker's refund policy should cover such losses.

Send your refund request along with all the evidence to your broker. An investigation will then be opened to examine the allegation. If there is no involvement of a higher institution (such as a financial regulator), the approval of the refund will rely solely on your broker's mea culpa. Responses are usually available within 1–7 business days.

If you do not receive proper refunds until more than 7 business days, you can advance your complaints to relevant regulatory bodies and/or trader forums. Unfortunately, you might need external help to resolve some issues.

Real Cases of Forex Brokers' Refunds

Here are several cases in which traders successfully got their money back:

1. Jang Soo Young made an incorrect deposit to OctaFX and the funds did not show up on their account. The refunds were delayed by more than two weeks. They eventually got their money back after lodging a case with the Forex Peace Army.
   
   
   
   
2. Another member of Forex Peace Army lost money because HotForex webtrader and terminal froze for more than an hour. They then received refunds for opened trades that were not closed in time due to the broker's server failure.
   

The Importance of Regulation

Forex brokers' refund due to certain corporate actions is only valid for companies that are both regulated and insured. It will take effect immediately. When your broker collapses, someone will contact you through email or phone regarding the refunds. When your broker goes through M&A, someone will ask you whether you want to continue trading with them under the new entity or get a refund for all the money available in your account. They will require you to fill out an application and several documents, then the funds will be transferred to your bank account once the processing is done (it may take several weeks or months).

One prominent example of this situation occurred following Alpari UK's bankruptcy in 2015. The company was properly insured, and so, client's refunds were proceeded through a special administrator. Around one year later, the U.K. Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) refunded a total of $51.3 million to 11,751 clients. The claims included clients' account balances and negative balance repayments.

From that incident, many have learned that refund policies applied by regulated forex brokers are usually more favorable for traders. If your chosen forex broker is unregulated, you have nearly zero chance of getting back your money for any reason.

Insurance enables forex brokers to offer either partial or full compensation during unforeseen financial calamities. Read more to know which forex brokers provide insurance.