angry consumers urged to use the Ombudsman 8 April 2009 at 12:13PM in Reclaim bank & credit card charges 13 replies 1.8K views

Former_MSE_Guy

This thread is to discuss the following news story:

Angry consumers urged to use the Ombudsman

Toad_Lily

Hi

Does anyone know the current timescale for the Ombudsman dealing with a complaint? I have been asking my bank (Lloyds) to stop paying direct debits out of my account for months and they are still going out of my account every month. I wrote to the Ombudsman and have received an acknowledgement that they have received my letter but they have given no idea of the timescale for dealing with it. They have just said that they will deal with it as soon as they can.

Any info would be much appreciated. Thank you

dunstonh

Does anyone know the current timescale for the Ombudsman dealing with a complaint?

14-24 months depending on the nature of the complaint and if either side rejects the decision from the adjudictor and wants it referred to an ombudsman.

I have been asking my bank (Lloyds) to stop paying direct debits out of my account for months and they are still going out of my account every month.

Are you sure its direct debit and not a recurring debit card transaction? Lloyds would be able to cancel a direct debit and refund under the guarantee scheme. However, Lloyds have no control on recurring debit card transactions. The only other exception is direct debits where Lloyds hold the security. They can overule you on those (e.g. loans and mortgages).

Dinah93

I have been putting off writting to the ombudsman for a while as I am completely unsure of their powers. Basically I want to complain about the Alliance & Leicester, as when I split with my ex they wouldn't let me take my name off the joint account even when I offered to pay off the full amount in debt without his signiture, which he refused to give. There was a minmum £500 a month payment to go into the account, which if I made he withdrew immediately. They also wouldn't let me change the address on the account without his signiture, despite us both moving out of the house, so I had to wait for mail to be (infrequently) forwarded. As a result of him refusing to sign the account ended up 8 months in arrears, which was mad as I kept offering the money throughout that time if they would put the account into just one name. Eventually, 7 months in his mother sent me a signed form, which despite sending it recorded delivery, they lost! So I sent the photocopy I had taken, and they lost that too! In the end I had to go to a branch nearly 50 miles away to fax it to them, but by this point they had initated court proceedings. They have written me a letter saying the customer service I recieved was substantially below the level I can expect to recieve, but I'm not sure if this means anything? As a result of the whole mess my credit rating is utterly shot, and I can't even get a new current account. I have never missed payments on the other accounts, even though this time last year I was nearly 20k in debt, and I am so disheartened that despite sorting my finances out I'm now in a worse position than I was a year ago.

natweststaffmember

I think you need to complain to the ombudsman on the basis that they did not stop or freeze the account even though you made them aware that there was a dispute between both of you.(maladministration).
If they cocked up did they offer compensation? Did they correct your credit file?

Dinah93

A girl on the phones told me it was frozen in order to give me a month to get the form off him (still wouldn't have been long enough) however more charges were put on in that time. When I complained about this I was told it was not possible to freeze accounts. They did not offer compensation (I asked) and told me they could not do anything about my credit file and if I was unhappy with this to go to the Ombudsman. I think a lot of the problem is I do not know what they should have done, and what is of interest to the ombudsman.

Toad_Lily

Thank you very much for the information. Sorry to hear about your situation Dinah93.

After reading dunstonh's message I have decided to write to Lloyds one more time as 14 months is a long time to wait while Lloyds keep ignoring my request to cancel direct debits. The direct debits are not recurring debit card transactions or where Lloyds hold the security - they are to a charity, to my sister, to the AA etc.

Thank you again and I will let you know how I get on.

Former_MSE_Wendy

Hi all

The Ombudsman has asked us to post this info on it's timescales as it does not generally take 14-24 months to deal with a complaint:

A third of cases are settled (this means allocated, investigated and a solution agreed to or a final decision issued by an ombudsman) within three months - and the vast majority (around eight out of ten cases) are settled within nine months.

Hope this helps and remember - if in any doubt as to whether the FOS can help, just give it a call to check.

Wendy

Toad_Lily

Hi Wendy

Thank you for that info. That is a bit more reassuring than 14 -24 months.

davidgmmafan

I would go along with this, I have had a few cases with the OMbudsmen for myself and others and the timescales can and do very. Quite often the bank capitulates immediatly as the facts are so damning. This seems to be the case with the A & L account and if thier actions have adversely affected your credit rating they should jolly well put it right and compensate you.

Also I cannot understand the statement relating to the level of service being inadequate without something to say what they intend to do about it. In a similar situation with HSBC they followed that sort of sentiment with an offer of £150.

I didn't really want to go to the Ombudsmen, as they did eventually sort it, but felt I was entitled to something for the stress and my time and effort. They evidently agreed.

Re the DD if its a loan to that bank I don't believe they will cancel it, more info is needed to tell if you have grounds to complain.

One last thing I cannot understand banks telling customers if you are not happy go to the Ombudsmen, I mean what's the point in thier own complaints people and procedures if they aren't even bothering to look at it?

Halifax 'response' to customers complaints about new charges are a prime example of this.

natweststaffmember

David, it's because they have given their view of what they believe and the customer does not agree with that. The FOS are more or less an arbitration organisation who looks at both sides of the argument and makes a decision based on that.