MSE News: Major delays in Ombudsman PPI rulings
Former_MSE_Guy
Former MSE 1.7K Posts
This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:
"Some are having to wait two years. This is due to a double whammy of delays that means those often indebted face the frustration of a torturous lag ..."
"Some are having to wait two years. This is due to a double whammy of delays that means those often indebted face the frustration of a torturous lag ..."
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Thank you for this beacon of reality dunstonh.
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story eh Martin ! :money:
LLoyds TSB CC - Currently Stage 1
A&L Loan - Offer sent- accepted- awaiting feeback
Capital One CC - Currently Refund £45.15
Halifax CC - Currently Stage 1
AA Loan - Currently Stage 1
I suppose that's the ''50%'' of claims you peddle at every opportunity is it?
I'm afraid that doesn't quite chime with the FOS's own figure of 0.4%:
''We recognise that some consumers pursue complaints in an unfocused manner that may make them seem unreasonable to the business. However, a consumer’s failure to present a reasoned argument does not automatically mean that a case has no merit – or that the complaint should be categorised as “frivolous and vexatious”.
Nevertheless, of the 166,321 complaints we settled during the financial year 2009/2010, we concluded that 702 cases (0.4% of the total) could be categorised in that way. 677 of these cases were complaints – mostly brought by claims-management companies – relating to payment protection insurance (PPI) policies that had never been taken out. We do not charge a case fee to the business complained about where we decide that a complaint is frivolous and vexatious.''
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ar10/dealt.html#ar3b
On average, we resolve around 50% of complaints informally at the earliest stage. 40% of complaints go on to the stage that may require an investigation and a more formal report, setting out our recommendations. Only about 10% of complaints need an individual final decision by an ombudsman – although ombudsmen are also involved indirectly at all earlier stages, to make sure their approach to different types of complaints is followed consistently at all times.
We aim to resolve most disputes within six to nine months – and we settle a third of cases within three months"
I'm not saying this article is a scare story - but it is presuming several worse case possibilities 1) that the banks win 2) that PPI complaints continue to grow and 3) that the Ombudsman staff levels do not increase.
Surely if you already have a PPI complaint(s) with the Ombudsman you are in front of the queue and should be given a judgment with the usual six to nine months? I hope this is the case because I have about ten complaints being reviewed at present.
I'm afraid your analysis is incorrect.
Your figures relate to complaints in general and may be out of date as the volume of complaints have grown in the past two months alone.
We were given the PPI-specific figures published in the story from the Ombudsman on Tuesday so they are bang up to date.
This is not a scare story, it's a story informing consumers of the unfortunate reality, that has already been alluded to in this thread by kev1111.
In your scenarios, if 1) or 2) happen then the length of time it takes will take longer. If 3) happens then it may get shorter (assuming the volume of cases doesn't increase) but this has been dealt with in the article.
Hope that helps.
You will find that is another poster here who handles claims for his company. He he has said that around 50% of complaints about PPI that they receive do not even have PPI. The information from our compliance company is that feel around 1/3rd of complaints are try-it-ons.
Have you ever tried to get the FOS to class a case as frivolous? Its nigh on impossible. Most dont bother even trying as your first few complaints each year dont cost you anything so there is no point arguing the toss as you just waste time and energy on something that doesnt matter financially. (unless you are a bank or a large network where you volumes do matter).
The current requirement for PPI complaints is to complete both a consumer questionnaire and a business response form. I presume this is to both provide more information on the complaint AND to speed up matters? (I would hope)
Hi Nigel,
There's nothing official to link to as it's not yet been published by the Ombudsman.
We were tipped off about the delays and contacted the Ombudsman for confirmation. It then responded verbally so, unfortunately, this article is all there is.
The FOS are the authority on what is or isn't a frivolous complaint to them.