How administrative silence turns evidence into isolation — and why communication method matters
What Really Happens to “Vexatious” Emails — and How Citizen Investigators Can Be Heard
By Steve Conley, Founder of the Academy of Life Planning & Get SAFE
Many people assume that if they keep emailing a regulator — copying more people, sending more detail, escalating the tone — eventually someone has to respond.
Sadly, the opposite is often true.
Through recent Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) disclosures, we now have rare, documentary insight into what actually happens inside the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) when correspondence is judged to be unmanageable, repetitive, or vexatious by volume.
This article is not about blame.
It is about how systems behave — and how Citizen Investigators can adapt to be heard rather than filtered out.
What the FCA Actually Does When Emails Become “Too Much”
One internal FCA email, disclosed via DSAR, states plainly that an individual’s emails were being:
“filed … with no further action, despite him saying that he wishes for a response from … our Complaints Team.”
In other words:
- the emails were received
- they were logged
- but a decision had been taken not to respond.
This is crucial.
There is no dramatic confrontation.
No warning letter.
No explicit “you are vexatious” notice.
Instead, a quiet administrative decision is made:
File. No further action.
Why This Happens (Even When the Evidence Is Strong)
From a systems perspective, several triggers reliably lead to this outcome:
1. High Volume Over Time
Hundreds of emails across months or years — even if each is justified — exceed what a human caseworker can realistically process.
2. Multiple CCs and Broad Distribution
When emails copy large numbers of teams, regulators, journalists, politicians, and third parties:
- ownership becomes unclear
- responsibility diffuses
- defensive filtering increases
3. Long, Unstructured Narratives
Lengthy emails that:
- mix facts, feelings, chronology, and argument
- repeat earlier material
- lack a single, precise ask
are cognitively expensive to read and easy to defer.
4. Thread Accretion
Email chains that grow organically over time become unreadable.
New readers cannot see:
- what is new
- what has already been addressed
- what decision is being requested
At that point, the system optimises for containment, not engagement.
The Hard Truth
This filtering is not a judgment on truth.
It is not a denial of harm.
And it is not a measure of merit.
It is a structural response to overload.
Many victims of financial exploitation unintentionally defeat their own case by communicating in ways that overwhelm the very systems they are trying to engage.
When the System Stops Listening
The human cost of diverted emails and unanswered evidence
Working tirelessly, Ian Davis compiled a staggering database of over 70,000 documents, uncovering a vast network of more than 350 companies tied to misconduct and fraud. His research was meticulous and forensic. It revealed a disturbing web of deception, regulatory failure, and institutional blind spots.
Ian did exactly what a conscientious citizen is told to do.
He submitted his findings — repeatedly — to the Financial Conduct Authority, Action Fraud, the Serious Fraud Office, the National Crime Agency, the Insolvency Service, and the Crown Prosecution Service.
Again and again.
He was ignored.
Despite overwhelming evidence and years of sustained effort, no meaningful action followed. The very institutions designed to protect the public left him unheard. It was not only the original fraud that harmed Ian — it was what came after:
the silence,
the deflection,
the unanswered correspondence,
the sense that his messages had vanished into a system that no longer saw him.
His work consumed him. Sleepless nights. Endless emails. Relentless analysis. Still, he remained determined to protect others from suffering the same harm.
In March 2023, at just 61 years old, Ian Davis ended his life.
His death was a devastating tragedy — and a stark warning.
Not just about fraud, but about what happens when evidence is systematically diverted, communications are quietly sidelined, and citizens are left isolated inside bureaucratic systems.
Why This Matters: The Difference Between Being Heard and Being Diverted
This is not included to shock or to assign blame.
It is included because process matters.
What Ian experienced — and what we now see confirmed through DSAR disclosures — is that when communications are perceived as overwhelming, repetitive, unfocused, or “vexatious,” systems respond by diverting them.
Not escalating them.
Not resolving them.
Diverting them.
Once diverted, emails are often no longer read by the intended decision-maker.
They are routed to holding folders, reviewed periodically, or discussed administratively — without substantive engagement.
The consequence is not just procedural delay.
The consequence is human isolation.
This is precisely why Get SAFE exists — not to silence victims, but to ensure their voices are heard effectively, safely, and strategically.
What “Email Divert → Executive Casework” Actually Means
One further and highly significant detail emerged from the DSAR disclosure.
The correspondence was not merely filed or deprioritised.
It was actively diverted from the FCA’s standard Email Divert process into Executive Casework.
This matters.
What This Tells Us About Internal Handling
In practical terms, this routing indicates that:
- a recipient made an active decision to apply automated diversion (commonly referred to as “spam marking” at system level);
- future emails from the same sender were no longer entering ordinary team inboxes;
- instead, they were routed into a controlled executive queue, without triggering individual reading or response.
At that point, the system is no longer operating as:
“someone deciding whether to reply”
but as:
a governance mechanism deciding whether engagement should continue at all.
The Role of Executive Casework
Executive Casework is not there to progress correspondence in the normal sense.
Its function is to:
- monitor high-risk, high-volume, or sensitive correspondents;
- decide whether ongoing engagement is proportionate;
- periodically review whether the diversion should continue.
Critically:
- messages are not read line-by-line, and
- no further action is taken unless the status is deliberately lifted.
From time to time, internal conversations occur between:
- the Executive Casework manager, and
- the original recipient or team,
to decide whether the sender should remain diverted, or whether normal routing should resume.
In the case evidenced by the DSAR, the decision was:
continue diversion, no further action.
Why This Is So Dangerous for Citizen Investigators
Once correspondence reaches this stage:
- adding more detail does not help;
- copying more people does not help;
- escalating tone actively reinforces the decision to maintain diversion.
From the outside, it looks like:
“they are ignoring me”
From the inside, it is:
a settled administrative position.
And the sender is rarely told this explicitly.
The Only Effective Reset: Break the Pattern
The key lesson for Citizen Investigators is this:
Once automated diversion is in place, persistence alone will not restore engagement.
What does work is a structural reset, for example:
- a new, clean email address;
- a single, concise, non-vexatious communication;
- a clearly framed process-assurance request, not a narrative complaint;
- no mass CCs, no historic threads attached.
This is not gaming the system.
It is restoring signal clarity.
Why Get SAFE Teaches This Explicitly
At Get SAFE, we teach Citizen Investigators how regulators actually operate, not how people assume they operate.
Goliathon is designed specifically to:
- recognise when a correspondent has crossed into diversion territory;
- rebuild the case into a form that cannot be auto-filtered;
- produce a single, executive-level brief that justifies re-engagement.
This is not about silence.
It is about re-entry.
A Hard-Won Insight
When regulators stop responding, it is rarely because:
- the evidence is weak, or
- the issue is unimportant.
More often, it is because:
the communication pattern itself has become the barrier.
Citizen Investigators deserve to know this —
before years of effort disappear into a system designed to manage overload, not truth.
How to Communicate in a Way That Cannot Be Ignored
Here is what works — consistently.
1. One Clean Reset
Start a new email thread.
If necessary, use a new email address.
This is not deception — it is practical signal management.
2. One Email, One Purpose
A powerful regulatory email has:
- a clear subject line
- a short context paragraph
- a numbered list of facts
- a single, explicit request
If it cannot be read and understood in under three minutes, it is too long.
3. Reference Evidence — Don’t Reattach It All
Say:
“Evidence bundle previously submitted on [date], reference X.”
Do not resend dozens of attachments unless asked.
4. Roles, Not People
Ask:
- which team reviewed the material
- on what date
- with what outcome
Avoid naming individuals unless necessary.
5. Process Assurance, Not Accusation
The most effective questions are procedural:
- Was this information reviewed?
- By whom (functionally)?
- What decision was taken?
- What happens next?
These questions trigger obligations.
Where Get SAFE’s Goliathon Comes In
This is precisely why Get SAFE does not act as a caseworker.
Instead, we train Citizen Investigators to:
- convert years of correspondence into a single, coherent escalation
- strip emotion from structure (without denying it)
- communicate in a way regulators are required to process
Goliathon does three things humans struggle to do under stress:
- Condenses hundreds of emails into one authoritative brief
- Structures the narrative for regulatory cognition
- Prevents self-sabotage through over-communication
It does not replace your voice.
It amplifies it — by making it unavoidable.
This Is About Being Heard, Not Being Silent
Nothing in this article says:
- “stop complaining”
- “be patient”
- “tone it down for their comfort”
It says:
Choose the form that forces engagement.
Because silence is not justice —
but neither is shouting into a system that has stopped listening.
Final Word to Citizen Investigators
If you suspect your emails are being diverted, ignored, or quietly filed away:
It is not a personal failure.
It is a signal problem.
And signal problems can be fixed.
That is the purpose of Get SAFE.
That is why Goliathon exists.
And that is how we turn pain into progress — together.
Silence is not neutral. In systems of power, silence has direction — and without the right tools, it almost always flows away from the citizen.
About Get SAFE
Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation) is a citizen-led initiative that empowers victims of financial harm to investigate, document, and pursue redress.
Through AI-enabled training, structured playbooks, and collaborative fellowship, Get SAFE transforms victims into advocates — ensuring that truth and justice are not luxuries, but rights.
In One Sentence
Goliathon turns victims of financial exploitation into confident, capable citizen investigators who can build professional-grade cases using structured training, emotional support, and independent AI.
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Purchase today for £2.99 and get your secure link to:
- the training video, and
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If the session resonates, you can upgrade to the full Goliathon Programme for £29 and continue your journey toward clarity, justice, and recovery.
Every year, thousands across the UK lose their savings, pensions, and peace of mind to corporate financial exploitation — and are left to face the aftermath alone.
Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation) exists to change that.
We’re creating a national lifeline for victims — offering free emotional recovery, life-planning, and justice support through our Fellowship, Witnessing Service, and Citizen Investigator training.
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Join us at: http://www.aolp.info/getsafe
steve.conley@aolp.co.uk | +44 (0)7850 102070
Academy of Life Planning 