Consumer Power: Want to ask the Financial Ombudsman a question?

Equaliser123

P-G wrote: »

1. Why are Adjudicators and Ombudsmen not required to have financial services qualifications ? (latest FOS advert)

2. What qualifications and experience are actually required to be an Adjudicator ? Is it true that FOS declined to give this information to 'Money Marketing' even though the FSA did provide such information ?

3. 1000+ Adjudicators and Ombudsmen reached 163,000 decisions last year. There MUST have been SOME mistakes. Why is there no appeals process at FOS ? ( Referring a case from Adjudicator to Ombudsman is not an independent appeal, especially if the reference was made because the Adjudicator was incompetent, in which case only one competent person will have judged the case)

4. Why does FOS not publish its guidelines so that consumers can be aware of what they are ? Lord Hunt suggested this be done with the 'FOSBOOK' in his Independent Review of the FOS, suggesting such a document woukld help FOS staff as well as the public. What progress has been made with this ?

5. Why does FOS not check a firm's compensation calculations, (generally speaking these are not specifically checked) ordinary consumers have no way to check them ? Getting calculations confirmed as reasonable by an independent expert is why some people go to the FOS

6. Why does " The FOS take the view that there is a fundamental distinction between a situation where the firm has made a settlement offer, and one where no offer has been made and the FOS award compensation". (quotation from a letter from the Independent Assessor dated 21/11/2007). This means a firm which makes an offer can sneak though paying less compensation than FOS guidelines would require if imposed.

7. If an Ombudsman accepts a firm's compensation without checking the calculations, how can he be sure the offer is fair and reasonable ?

8. Why is the FOS allowed to simply ignore the Independent Assessor when he is concerned about an issue and asks for an explanation ?

9. Why is the Independent Assessor's address, phone, fax and email kept secret ? She has to be contacted by a PO BOX number. The recent job advert tells us she is based at FOS HQ and uses FOS staff.

10. All Banks and firms use highly qualified and experienced professionals to handle their side of customer disputes. Probably more knowledgeable than many FOS staff. Why does the FOS expect a consumer to put their case "in their own words" and discourage the consumer from using a professional adviser, even in a complex financial dispute ? Is this not bias in favour of the firms ?

11. The FOS Annual Review tells us that 5 out of 6 potential disputes (760,000 last year) never reach an Adjudicator or Ombudsman because they are handled by FOS Customer Service staff using call centre technology. What qualifications do these junior staff have to decide if a complaint warrants proper investigation or not ? What audit is made of these 760,000 cases to ensure no mistakes have been made, so that these can be corrected ?

12. IFA's have professional qualifications which take years of training and examinations to achieve. These must be kept up to date to maintain the qualification. How can FOS staff make decisions about these professionals unless they have the same knowledge ?

13. Why is the burden of proof different for the consumer and the firm ? To win the argument the consumer must show that he is more likely to be correct, not just as likely. So if the arguments are equally balanced FOS finds for the firm.

14. Is it true that Adjudicators are only paid their bonus if they resolve a certain number of cases every week or month ? Surely this must pressurise them to rush their work ?

15. If a consumer accepts an Ombudsman's decision, then finds that the Ombudsman withheld information which would have caused the consumer to REJECT the Ombudsman's decision, why can the case not be reviewed, especially when the Independent Assessor has also asked FOS to review its approach ?

16. Why has the Service Review Team been discontinued ?

17. Lord Hunt suggested that some cases could be re-opened if new evidence is forthcoming, what is the procedure to have a case re-opened ?

18. Why does the FOS not advise consumers that they may ask for a Judicial Review of the Ombudsman's Decision if they do not like the way the decision was reached ?

Some great points. And at last someone not asking something about their own predicaments.

Really good questions. Be interested in answers from FOS.

magpiecottage

My guesses to P-G's questions:

P-G wrote: »

1. Why are Adjudicators and Ombudsmen not required to have financial services qualifications ? (latest FOS advert)

Because they are expected to work under intense pressure and those with the qualifications tend to leave fairly quickly.

P-G wrote: »

2. What qualifications and experience are actually required to be an Adjudicator ? Is it true that FOS declined to give this information to 'Money Marketing' even though the FSA did provide such information ?

For investment complaints, the Financial Planning Certificate or Certificate in Financial Advice (CeFA) or equivalent. This is a very basic qualification and really does not equip them for more complex investigations.

Experience is not really defined which means an adjudicator could be deciding on something that happened in 1988, when they were still in short trousers.

P-G wrote: »

3. 1000+ Adjudicators and Ombudsmen reached 163,000 decisions last year. There MUST have been SOME mistakes. Why is there no appeals process at FOS ? ( Referring a case from Adjudicator to Ombudsman is not an independent appeal, especially if the reference was made because the Adjudicator was incompetent, in which case only one competent person will have judged the case)

Because FOS does not think it gets decisions wrong.

P-G wrote: »

4. Why does FOS not publish its guidelines so that consumers can be aware of what they are ? Lord Hunt suggested this be done with the 'FOSBOOK' in his Independent Review of the FOS, suggesting such a document would help FOS staff as well as the public. What progress has been made with this ?

Probably moved about as far as a concrete tortoise

P-G wrote: »

5. Why does FOS not check a firm's compensation calculations, (generally speaking these are not specifically checked) ordinary consumers have no way to check them ? Getting calculations confirmed as reasonable by an independent expert is why some people go to the FOS

The last time FOS insisted one of my endowment redress calculations was wrong they relied on bespoke software. I found they had made a fundamental error in using it (sorry apologies to those reading this who recognise the pun!)

I had used a spreadsheet and when I deliberately reproduced the error, I got almost exactly the same result.

So I would say that if they do not even know what data to use at outset in software that does all the sums for them, there is really no chance that they would be able to follow through other forms of calculation from scratch.

QUOTE=P-G;36532513] 6. Why does " The FOS take the view that there is a fundamental distinction between a situation where the firm has made a settlement offer, and one where no offer has been made and the FOS award compensation". (quotation from a letter from the Independent Assessor dated 21/11/2007). This means a firm which makes an offer can sneak though paying less compensation than FOS guidelines would require if imposed.[/QUOTE]

The stats FOS now keeps is whether or not the outcome for the complainant is better. So if a firm offered £1,000 and FOS awarded £1,001 then the result would be recorded as a change in the complainant's favour.

P-G wrote: »

7. If an Ombudsman accepts a firm's compensation without checking the calculations, how can he be sure the offer is fair and reasonable ?

Heads or tails?

P-G wrote: »

8. Why is the FOS allowed to simply ignore the Independent Assessor when he is concerned about an issue and asks for an explanation ?

Apparently because it considers itself above the Law.

P-G wrote: »

9. Why is the Independent Assessor's address, phone, fax and email kept secret ? She has to be contacted by a PO BOX number. The recent job advert tells us she is based at FOS HQ and uses FOS staff.

I am guessing because she would be absolutely inundated - if she is not already.

P-G wrote: »

10. All Banks and firms use highly qualified and experienced professionals to handle their side of customer disputes. Probably more knowledgeable than many FOS staff. Why does the FOS expect a consumer to put their case "in their own words" and discourage the consumer from using a professional adviser, even in a complex financial dispute ? Is this not bias in favour of the firms ?

Because it has "inquisitorial powers". Unfortunately, this seems to be of the "Spanish" variety and rather than enquiring about the underlying issues jumps to conclusions.

P-G wrote: »

11. The FOS Annual Review tells us that 5 out of 6 potential disputes (760,000 last year) never reach an Adjudicator or Ombudsman because they are handled by FOS Customer Service staff using call centre technology. What qualifications do these junior staff have to decide if a complaint warrants proper investigation or not ? What audit is made of these 760,000 cases to ensure no mistakes have been made, so that these can be corrected ?

Actually to some extent this depends what they are asking. Any enquiry that revealed the firm had not yet been told that the complainant had a grievance would be filtered out at this stage and may be resolved to their satisfaction by the firm.

P-G wrote: »

12. IFA's have professional qualifications which take years of training and examinations to achieve. These must be kept up to date to maintain the qualification. How can FOS staff make decisions about these professionals unless they have the same knowledge ?

Heads or tails again!

P-G wrote: »

13. Why is the burden of proof different for the consumer and the firm ? To win the argument the consumer must show that he is more likely to be correct, not just as likely. So if the arguments are equally balanced FOS finds for the firm.

That is actually following the longstanding legal principle that he who asserts must prove.

More recently, though, I have seen cases where an adjudicator upholds the complaint because they are not "convinced" it is suitable. This is quite alarming because it means that the firm now has to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that it is not guilty. That in turn opens the gate for fraudulent claims to succeed.

P-G wrote: »

14. Is it true that Adjudicators are only paid their bonus if they resolve a certain number of cases every week or month ? Surely this must pressurise them to rush their work ?

But it gets the cases out of the door.

P-G wrote: »

15. If a consumer accepts an Ombudsman's decision, then finds that the Ombudsman withheld information which would have caused the consumer to REJECT the Ombudsman's decision, why can the case not be reviewed, especially when the Independent Assessor has also asked FOS to review its approach ?

I am not sure that actually happens. Generally, a consumer is given the opportunity to accept or reject an Ombudsman's decision within a set time limit and the default position is that it is rejected if the time limit is not met.

P-G wrote: »

16. Why has the Service Review Team been discontinued ?

You can now write to the Chief Ombudsman instead! What are the odds that once she is swamped it will be reinstated?

P-G wrote: »

17. Lord Hunt suggested that some cases could be re-opened if new evidence is forthcoming, what is the procedure to have a case re-opened ?

I'm personally not sure that would work. It would have to operate both ways.

P-G wrote: »

18. Why does the FOS not advise consumers that they may ask for a Judicial Review of the Ombudsman's Decision if they do not like the way the decision was reached ?

Actually, a consumer can simply sue the firm. That is a lot cheaper than a JR.

shortchanged_2

Why do you personally feel the need to answer for the FOS magpiecottage?

angiegemmell

If you receive a significant amount of "extra" money in any given financial year due to an arrears payment eg Agenda for Change arrears and this puts your pay for that year over the 40% threshold, do you actually have to pay the 40% tax rate? I received 4 years of arrears last year & as far as I can work out, I paid 40% tax on it, yet if I had been paid the correct amount in April 2005, April 2006 etc my gross salary would not have been over the 40% threshold.

Equaliser123

angiegemmell wrote: »

if you receive a significant amount of "extra" money in any given financial year due to an arrears payment eg agenda for change arrears and this puts your pay for that year over the 40% threshold, do you actually have to pay the 40% tax rate? I received 4 years of arrears last year & as far as i can work out, i paid 40% tax on it, yet if i had been paid the correct amount in april 2005, april 2006 etc my gross salary would not have been over the 40% threshold.

this isn't about individual issues!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

letdown

why do the FOS take no action against Banks that fail to comply with the Banking Code and pursue non-existant arrears for six years, act contrary to the Law or good business practice.

why will the FOS not answer this direct question - why do they think it is equitable that a Bank be allowed to debit an innocent customers account with all the Bank Costs incurred in pursuing non-existant arrears ?

AdrianFitz

It wooudl be very good if MSE can use the questions raised by P-G as a basis to the discussions with FOS. Reading the posts (my original included) it appears that the majority of people using the service are not confident in the ability of the FOS to reach an unbiased fair conclusion to the complaints which they have received.

Bishboshjb

My question is in two parts. Firstly, I am in dispute with Barclays over a phone call, where I enquired about changing my mortgage from an interest only to a repayment. Instead of providing a quotation in writing, they changed the mortgage as a result of that phone call, and my mortgage payment has gone up £1,000 a month! It's a joint mortgage, so I had no paper work, no figures were discussed, and nothing was signed. Can they do this legitimately ?
Secondly, I cancelled the direct debit for the higher amount (repayment), set up a standing order for the lower (interest only) amount while the dispute is ongoing. Barclays are now chasing us for the money they say we owe, plus slapping on charges. Can they do this while the dispute is ongoing ?
Any comments appreciated. Thank you.

magpiecottage

shortchanged wrote: »

Why do you personally feel the need to answer for the FOS magpiecottage?

I don't and I didn't and much of that comes down to issues P-G has raised.

However, there are others that I disagree on.

I am NOT a fan of FOS.

I want answers to the points such as the targets and the lack of qualifications but I do not want MSE to waste time asking questions that already have legitimate answers.

magpiecottage

shortchanged wrote: »

Why does the FOS not seem to understand the concept of equal liability?

That is a good question and I suspect the real answer (though perhaps not the one we will get) is that adjudicators do not understand about S75 of the Consumer Credit.

To make it more awkward, I would suggest it is couched in terms of "MSE members report adjudicators incorrectly rejecting claims under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. Why are adjudicators without an understanding of this legislation apparently taking on such cases?"