FINRA Statement of Claim: Contents, Deadlines, and Filing Fees

To file a FINRA Statement of Claim, you draft a written document describing the facts of your dispute with a brokerage firm or broker and the money damages you want back, sign a matching Submission Agreement, and upload both to FINRA’s Dispute Resolution Portal with a filing fee tied to the dollar amount you’re requesting. Fees run from $50 for claims under $1,000 up to $2,875 for claims over $5 million.¹ The claim itself is where your case lives or dies, so most of the work happens before you ever log in.

What the Claim Must Contain

FINRA Rule 12302 requires two core elements in every Statement of Claim: a description of the relevant facts and the remedies you’re requesting.² Beyond those, the document has to identify every party by full legal name and current address, and it must specify the customer’s city and state at the time of the events that gave rise to the dispute.³ Naming multiple brokers or firms? Each one needs enough identifying detail for FINRA to serve them.

Build the factual narrative chronologically. When was the account opened. What recommendations were made and when. What specific trades occurred. When did losses materialize. When did you raise concerns, and with whom. Dates of transactions, meetings, and communications give the panel a timeline to follow. Common claim types include unsuitable recommendations, unauthorized trading, excessive trading (churning), misrepresentation of risks, and breach of fiduciary duty. You don’t need to cite the specific FINRA rules you believe were violated, but organizing your facts around the misconduct you’re alleging makes the claim far stronger.

The remedies section needs a specific dollar amount. If you lost $75,000 from unsuitable investments, say $75,000. Include any interest you’re seeking and whether you want attorney fees reimbursed. That figure drives your filing fee, the number of arbitrators assigned, and later hearing session fees, so it carries real consequences beyond the claim itself.

Punitive Damages

Arbitrators can award punitive damages, but the bar is high. Most states require malicious or intentional conduct, though some allow punitive damages for reckless indifference or gross negligence.⁴ If you include a punitive damages request, the facts in your claim need to support it. A claim of simple negligence won’t get there.

The Six-Year Eligibility Window

FINRA won’t accept a claim if more than six years have passed since the event that caused the dispute. This isn’t a traditional statute of limitations. It’s an eligibility rule, and the arbitration panel decides whether your claim fits inside the window. The clock runs from the occurrence itself, not from when you figured out something was wrong.⁵ Waiting can cost you the right to file at all.

One upstream point worth confirming before you draft anything: FINRA Rule 12200 governs whether your dispute belongs in FINRA arbitration in the first place. A dispute must be arbitrated through FINRA when a written agreement requires it (or when the customer requests it), the dispute involves a FINRA member firm or one of its brokers, and the dispute arises from the firm’s business activities.⁶ Most brokerage account agreements contain a pre-dispute arbitration clause that pushes you into this forum whether you want it or not.

Filing Fees

Every claim requires a filing fee based on the damages you’re requesting, excluding interest and expenses. The schedule effective January 1, 2025:¹

$0.01 to $1,000: $50
$1,000.01 to $2,500: $75
$2,500.01 to $5,000: $175
$5,000.01 to $10,000: $325
$10,000.01 to $25,000: $425
$25,000.01 to $50,000: $600
$50,000.01 to $100,000: $975
$100,000.01 to $500,000: $1,790
$500,000.01 to $1,000,000: $2,175
$1,000,000.01 to $5,000,000: $2,540
Over $5,000,000: $2,875
Non-monetary or unspecified: $2,000

Watch the jump at $100,000. A claim for $100,000 costs $975; a claim for $100,001 costs $1,790. That gap catches people off guard, so calculate carefully. If your claim doesn’t request money damages, FINRA sets the fee between $50 and $2,875 based on its own assessment.¹

If You Can’t Afford the Fee

You can ask FINRA to defer the filing fee by demonstrating financial hardship. FINRA doesn’t publish income thresholds. You submit documentation supporting the request, and FINRA responds with a written decision.⁷ If deferral is denied and you don’t pay, your claim is deficient.

How to Submit the Claim

Filing requires two documents: the Statement of Claim itself and a signed Submission Agreement.² The Submission Agreement identifies all parties, confirms FINRA will administer the arbitration, and establishes that everyone agrees to be bound by the arbitrators’ decision.⁸ Every claimant must sign and date it, and the parties it names must match the parties in the claim exactly. A mismatch kicks the filing back as deficient.

Most filings run through the FINRA Dispute Resolution Portal. Create an account, upload the two documents as PDFs, and pay the filing fee by credit card. The portal returns an automated confirmation. Self-represented investors without an attorney can request an exemption from electronic filing. If the exemption is granted, paper submissions must include multiple copies of the Statement of Claim plus a check for the filing fee.

Deficient Claims and the 30-Day Cure

FINRA will not serve the respondent if your claim is deficient. The most common reasons:³

Missing Submission Agreement, or one that isn’t signed and dated by every claimant.
Parties on the Submission Agreement don’t match the parties named in the claim.
No specification of the customer’s city and state at the time of the events.
Filing fee unpaid and no hardship deferral granted.
Personal confidential information (Social Security numbers, protected data) left unredacted.

When FINRA flags a deficiency, it sends written notice and gives you 30 days to fix it. Correct the problem inside that window and your claim is treated as filed on the original submission date. Miss the 30-day deadline and FINRA closes the case without serving. You’ll get a partial refund of the filing fee, but you’ll have to start over.³ A missing signature can cost you weeks, so proof the Submission Agreement against the claim before you file.

What Happens After You File

Once FINRA determines the claim is complete, it serves the documents on each respondent.² Each respondent then has 45 days from receipt to file a written Answer addressing the allegations and raising defenses, along with their own signed Submission Agreement.⁹ The Answer often contains counterclaims or third-party claims, so expect the scope of the dispute to shift once the other side responds.

Panel size depends on the amount in dispute:¹⁰

$50,000 or less: one public arbitrator, handled under simplified arbitration (no hearing unless the customer requests one).¹¹
$50,000.01 to $100,000: one arbitrator, unless both parties agree in writing to three.
Over $100,000, or unspecified or non-monetary: three arbitrators, unless both parties agree in writing to one.

FINRA uses a computerized list selection algorithm to randomly generate potential arbitrator lists based on the hearing location. The parties then strike names and rank the remainder. In customer disputes, the chairperson must be a public arbitrator, meaning someone without industry ties.¹²

Amending the Claim Later

You can freely amend your Statement of Claim at any time before the arbitration panel has been officially appointed, which is the moment FINRA notifies the parties of the panel’s composition. After appointment, you need the panel’s permission through a formal motion that attaches the proposed amended claim. One exception: if FINRA notifies you that a named broker or firm has become inactive, you get 60 days from that notice to amend or add third-party claims. Any party who receives an amended claim gets 20 days to respond.¹³

Changing the dollar amount can push you into a different filing fee bracket, change the panel size, or move the case out of simplified arbitration. Factor those downstream effects in before you amend.

1
FINRA. FINRA Rule 12900 – Fees Due When a Claim Is Filed
2
FINRA. FINRA Rule 12302 – Filing and Serving an Initial Statement of Claim
3
FINRA. FINRA Rule 12307 – Deficient Claims
4
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Arbitrators Reference Guide
5
FINRA. FINRA Rule 12206 – Time Limits
6
FINRA. FINRA Rule 12200 – Arbitration Under an Arbitration Agreement or the Rules of FINRA
7
FINRA. Arbitration and Mediation Fees Frequently Asked Questions
8
FINRA. FINRA Arbitration Process
9
FINRA. FINRA Rule 12303 – Answering the Statement of Claim
10
FINRA. FINRA Rule 12401 – Number of Arbitrators
11
FINRA. FINRA Rule 12800 – Simplified Arbitration
12
FINRA. FINRA Rule 12400 – List Selection Algorithm and Arbitrator Rosters
13
FINRA. FINRA Rule 12309 – Amending Pleadings or Filing Third Party Claims