Financial Fight Back Guide discussion

[MSE Wendy]

This is to specifically discuss the


Financial Fight Back Guide


... just click 'post reply' to discuss or comment.

[fishej]

Advice please...

August 2008 I wrote to the FSO because I felt I had exhausted the possibility of Barclays addressing a complaint I had made in respect of how they managed an ISA I held with them.

In January 2009, despite telephone calls as well as written responses from the FSO my specific query was not answered and I asked for this to be transferred for an Ombudman to deal with it. Since then every month I have had the same standard letter stating that they are dealing with my complaint and will contact again.

A few months ago I sent another letter asking the same question and pointing out how long it was taking to deal with my complaint. They were unable to tell me when an Ombudsman would be appointed.

Now it is the first anniversay of my complaint being lodged with the FSO.

What should I do next? Is there somehow I can complain to the FSO?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[dunstonh]

Is there somehow I can complain to the FSO?

You can complain to the FOS about the FOS. The address is on their website.

Delays are not uncommon at the moment. Many are reporting 12-18 months for their complaints.

If you choose not to accept the decision of the adjudicator and request it to be referred to an ombudsman then you should expect a further delay as there are fewer of them.

[sammylou100]

Hi, I have read the Financial Fight Back Guide, but I would also point out that the FOS route is NOT a quick solution.

I have a default which I believe has been applied unfairly and obviously I am desperate to get it removed. I initially wrote to the FOS on the 16th of September last year, I chose not to accept the decision of their adjudicator in January and my case was passed onto the ombudsman. Finally at the beginning of July I got a provisional decision from him. This morning I got an email to say that they have a response from my bank and they will be making a final decision 'as soon as possible'.

Like Fishej before I got the provisional opinion in July I just received monthly letters telling me that I was in the queue for the Ombudsman to review my case. So i would say to you Fishej to hold on in there, it's crazy that you've been waiting so long but hopefully it will be worth it.

I have a feeling my case will go to a full year, but the provisional decision from the ombudsman was that the default should be removed, so hopefully this will go in my favour, I think had I waited a year and had no result I would feel very very bad about it.

[InSeriousTrouble]

The problem is i have the same problem.
I even have a contact at the FOS and the replies are - we do not have your paperwork - please resubmit them. Or what were the banks again etc. etc.

Therefore, if it is constantly lost - when does that one year start from? The date they stop messing me around or the date I originally sent the paper work i.e. one year to date.

[carol42]

Must admit I found the Ombudsman great, yes it takes time but they are very thorough. In my case the company, Lloyds, refused to accept the adjudicator's decision in my favour so it had to go to an Ombudsman. All in it took over a year but much of the delay was due to Lloyds intransigence and determination not to pay quite a large insurance claim. In any event the FOS kept me in touch with what was happening and were very professional. I have no complaints at all.

[MANSHEZ]

:confused:We have just won our case against CitiFinancial. The FOS gave them 4 weeks to repay to us the PPIs plus interest plus compensation. The 4 weeks has come and gone Citi have sold the loan to CAPQUEST on 28/9/09 and the FOS cannot do anything about it even though they inform us this was illegal and did not conform to regulations. We must point out the case was dealt with by the Ombudsman himself. Also we had until the 27/10/09 to accept the Ombudsman decision.
What do we do now?

[dunstonh]

Originally Posted by MANSHEZ

:confused:We have just won our case against CitiFinancial. The FOS gave them 4 weeks to repay to us the PPIs plus interest plus compensation. The 4 weeks has come and gone Citi have sold the loan to CAPQUEST on 28/9/09 and the FOS cannot do anything about it even though they inform us this was illegal and did not conform to regulations. We must point out the case was dealt with by the Ombudsman himself. Also we had until the 27/10/09 to accept the Ombudsman decision.
What do we do now?

Companies are allowed to sell off parts of their companies to others and its not illegal. Also, failure to comply with an FOS ruling is not illegal either. Although the company runs the risk of action from the FSA which can lead to being struck off. If it was illegal, then the special branch would be investigating the crime at the moment.

So, I'm afraid that bit of info you were given was wrong.

The sale would either mean citi kept the liability or the liability went to the new owner. Whoever has the liability is the one that should pay you. You need to ask which one has it. I would suggest you contact Citi first.

[MANSHEZ]

Thank you for your response. We have contacted the Ombudsman and they have told us that Citi is liable to pay the redress. Having spoke to Citi the person who answered the phone didnt know who the Ombudsman was!!!! and gave the number of their head office. Guess what? It was CAP QUEST who answered, they stated when they bought this from Citi they werent aware of any dispute.
Even though the Ombudsmans office have got a taped conversation of Citi admitting liability it is now back to us to start arguing with them again and what chance do we have when the people who they employ dont even know what the Ombudsman office is?
CAP QUEST are now badgering us constantly for payment on an amount that we dont even owe.:confused:

[dunstonh]

You could consider contacting the FSA and telling them that the FOS have upheld a complaint and Citi are not paying out and now want you to go through the complaints process again. What they are doing is a breach of FSA rules and whilst the FSA will not investigate your complaint, they do often look into rule breaches.

[jamesd]

Get a Citi contact from Cap Quest. Send the same letter to both of them informing them that they are to sort out which of them is responsible for complying with the Ombudsman's ruling within 28 days or you will report both to the FSA (for the insurance) and Office of Fair Trading (for the loan) as an indication of lack of fitness to be authorised and take both to the county court for the court to sort out which of them is to pay. The court is where you go to get the money if a company fails to follow the ombudsman ruling. You seek the amount of the ruling plus an order to cease trying to collect future payments on the PPI plus costs.

In addition you write to Cap Quest reminding them of the FOS ruling and that it will be an unfair debt collection practice for them to pursue you for the payment when they know that there is a FOS ruling that it should not be collected.

You can contact your local trading standards department and Consumer Direct for assistance with the process.

[hsa]

I just wanted to say how grateful I was for this advice and to discover that even though the IFA/company which persuaded me to "buy out" my final salary pension into a personal one had gone bust, I could still pursue compensation.

Via the FSCS I am going to be awarded the maximum amount (which is a bit scary when you realise how much money that IFA has lost me) which is a fantastic result - and without this forum I would never have followed it up.

[rdm2007]

I made a complaint to FOS and what a waste of time that was.

I complained about being mis-sold mort pmt protection.

I was not advised about 1 of my options. They said i was given enough info to make an informed decision i asked how that was poss if i was not given 1 option and what happened to the truth the whole truth etc - no reply.

The bank then told oft that they had made a mistake and i could not have used this option, oft just accepted this no argument and did not inform me so that i could dispute it, (despite the Independant Assessor mentioning in his report that this should be done.)

The bank fail to provide info so FOS say they make a decision on the likelyhood it may have been mis-sold and found that it wouldn't.

FOS then publish their figures showing that the bank had mis-sold PPI in 86% of cases.

so on what info did they base this decision on ?????

[rdm2007]

Originally Posted by MANSHEZ

Thank you for your response. We have contacted the Ombudsman and they have told us that Citi is liable to pay the redress. Having spoke to Citi the person who answered the phone didnt know who the Ombudsman was!!!! and gave the number of their head office. Guess what? It was CAP QUEST who answered, they stated when they bought this from Citi they werent aware of any dispute.
Even though the Ombudsmans office have got a taped conversation of Citi admitting liability it is now back to us to start arguing with them again and what chance do we have when the people who they employ dont even know what the Ombudsman office is?
CAP QUEST are now badgering us constantly for payment on an amount that we dont even owe.:confused:

Write to cap quest telling them that the account is under dispute and should be returned to citi. Under fsa rules they should not be contacting you and you are under no obligation to pay 1p until the dispute is sorted.

also their continued contact knowing that this is under dispute is harassment

[dunstonh]

FOS then publish their figures showing that the bank had mis-sold PPI in 86% of cases.

so on what info did they base this decision on ?????

The 14% that were not upheld.

[pandapaws]

Can anyone clarify where the six months comes into it? I've read the main article several times but don't understand!

We complained about a mortgage to HSBC about 18mths ago. They eventually told us where to go, and said we only had 6 mths if we wanted to take it to the ombudsman. Due to circumstances at the time I just didn't do it, but it's been bugging me ever since. Are they correct in saying there was a 6 mth limit? Could I make the complaint again? Anything at all I could do?! They stole £8k from me!!

Thanks for any advice.

[Equaliser123]

In my opinion, the FOS is very rough and ready justice. Nobody who I have dealt with there appears to understand fairly basic points of law.

[rdm2007]

Originally Posted by dunstonh

The 14% that were not upheld.

How helpful

Surely by their own figures it should have been 86% likely to have been mis-sold

[rdm2007]

Originally Posted by pandapaws

Can anyone clarify where the six months comes into it? I've read the main article several times but don't understand!

We complained about a mortgage to HSBC about 18mths ago. They eventually told us where to go, and said we only had 6 mths if we wanted to take it to the ombudsman. Due to circumstances at the time I just didn't do it, but it's been bugging me ever since. Are they correct in saying there was a 6 mth limit? Could I make the complaint again? Anything at all I could do?! They stole £8k from me!!

Thanks for any advice.

Just send the complaint or ring FOS first, if they say it is correct explain why there was a delay death in family, off ill with depression due to being shafted, whatever the reason if it is reasonable then they should make an allowance for it, Don't expect them to deal with it quickly though - I hear they are a little busy at the moment.

Also report HSBC to FSA coz if they find HSBC has been Naughty they can not just fine them but make them compensate you too, although they do not normally deal with individuals, if it is serious enough they will occasionally get involved

[geoff1057]

right, couple of years ago my daughter finished paying for her car on finance from fiat, over the period of the finance they charged her late payment fees totaling £120. we sent letters asking for these charges to be returned ,but they told us in not so many words, to get lost. wrote again to ask for charges to be returned, they said reclaiming doesnt apply to them as they are not a bank ,and if we took them to court they would definately win the case,and we would have to pay all their court costs. we know that they are wrong , would we be better sending this case to the FOS. ok its only £120, but its not their money