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[MSE Wendy]

What's it all about?

If you've ever had ANY financial product or service, you've got powerful rights to deal with poor service. Regulations state financial companies must "treat customers fairly" and if they don't, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is there to provide a FREE way to fight back.

The FOS is an independent service for settling disputes between financial companies and customers, with legal power adjudicate on individuals' complaints. Once the Ombudman's involved, it's quite common for companies to just roll over and pay out what they owe fairly quickly, to avoid a full FOS investigation.

How to complain

First you must complain direct to the company, yet if your bank won't help, or you wait eight weeks, you can then go to the Ombudsman, unless your bank has sent you a letter suggesting you use the Ombudsman, when it can help sooner.

To start your complaint you just need to contact the Ombudsman and ask it to take on your case. You can either do this...

• By Phone: Simply call it up on 020 7964 0500

• Or Online: Full details of emails, postal addresses on more are on the FOS website.

What can The Ombudsman adjudicate on?

These are some of the most common areas of complaints, but the key is if you feel you haven't been treated fairly, then complain!

• Bank accounts. As well as Bank Charges reclaiming, it includes incorrect Direct Debits, delayed payments, Setting Off or account admin mistakes.

• Credit cards. Things like unfair interest rate hikes, disputed transactions, credit file defaults, not paying Section 75 claims & Credit Card Charges reclaiming.

• Insurance. Car, Home, Travel, Pet, Roadside Assistance, income protection, critical illness & private medical are now all under the Ombudsman’s remit, covering rejected, delayed or unpaid claims & more. Plus, of course, Mis-sold Loan Insurance.

• Pensions & annuities. Wrong advice to transfer out of SERPS, the suitability of the pension or just unfair delays.

• Mortgages and loans. A vast array of issues with lenders or brokers, eg, how lenders handle arrears problems, plus Endowment Mis-selling (though time's running out for this).

• Savings & deposit accounts. Incorrectly processed Cash ISA applications or rates not changing as the terms state.

• More ... Frankly, if it's a financial company, even some investments, it's likely the Ombudsman is the place to complain if you're not getting anywhere.

Charge for your time!

Hidden in its guidelines, the Ombudsman also says it can add up to £10/hour for the time the consumer spent putting things right, so ensure you add this to your complaint too. Read a full Forum Note: Get paid to complain

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[ken1414]

Take great care if dealing with the FSA. They operate to their own agenda. If your case is one they are interested in then you might get some where if not forget it. They will waste hours of your time in pointless form filling and correspondence.

As an example I approached them over my insurer's refusal to support my legal claim over unfair dismissal/redundancy. The finding of ombudsman was my claim wasn't valid as it wasn't submitted within 60 days of the inception of my employment contract in 1999. How was I meant to know then I would be made redundant in 2002 when I joined in 1999!

If you continue to complain over their blatant incompetence and injustice expect a call from the police to warn you off as any complaints over their incompetence are deemed harrassment with threats of immediate arrest made at 6am in the morning over the phone by City of London police! (Funny how the police can respond to requests from Ombudsman but refuse to respond to a 999 call made with an intruder is in the property because it is made from a mobile phone!)

Remember the FSA and ombudsman are linked.You saw what a mess the FSA made of bank regulation. You know what to expect!

[dunstonh]

Take great care if dealing with the FSA. They operate to their own agenda. If your case is one they are interested in then you might get some where if not forget it. They will waste hours of your time in pointless form filling and correspondence.

The thread is about the FOS. Not the FSA. The FSA are not interested in dealing with consumer complaints (at consumer level) unless its a serious case (fraud or the like). The FOS will review all complaints where there is a complaint to potentially answer. Some things they cant deal with as the complaint is spurious or in an area that is not within their remit (commercial decisions on pricing for example).

As an example I approached them over my insurer's refusal to support my legal claim over unfair dismissal/redundancy. The finding of ombudsman was my claim wasn't valid as it wasn't submitted within 60 days of the inception of my employment contract in 1999. How was I meant to know then I would be made redundant in 2002 when I joined in 1999!

Claims for redundancy normally have to be made within a period after you are made redundant. In your case, its probable you are mixing up the dates and you should have claimed within 60 days of inception of unemployment. Not employment when you started.

f you continue to complain over their blatant incompetence and injustice expect a call from the police to warn you off

The only time I think that would happen is if you use threatening behaviour or the firm believes you are acting fraudulently. You certainly would never got a call from the police on complaints otherwise.

Remember the FSA and ombudsman are linked.

No they are not. Sometimes you wish they were as there are occasional conflicts in what needs to be done.

The FOS do a very good job most of the time.

[foxypinklady]

Following a recent accident my insurance company wrote my car off as a total loss. After 2 months of telephone calls and emails, they finally came up with an offer for my mini cooper of £7000. I had estimated my mini to have been worth around £9500, so I turned down the offer and sent them evidence of 3 comparable cars that were currently for sale ranging from £9300 to £10,450. After receiving no response from them, and even receiving the cheque for £7000 in the post I contacted the Financial Ombusman. They sent a letter of complaint to the insurance company indicating that their offer was way below the true value of the car, and requesting that they made an offer of a more acceptable value. Within 48 hours of receiving the letter a person from the complaints department had contacted me and made another offer of £9950 for my car. It just goes to show what a difference it makes to put a little pressure on insurance companies!