Deadline

KIMY

Can anyone advise if your claim has been with FOS over a year and with an adjuicator am l right in assuming the 31st deadline does not apply, especially if the bank has given final descision to you with regards your complaint and that is why you have taken it to FOS. Is this deadline just for complaints before April that have been awaiting response form banks etc.

KellyM_3

Hi there - I have a claim currently with an Adjudicator who informed me that all claims being dealt with through the FOS take priority over new applications so the date of 31st August does not apply.

I contacted the Adjudicator in July after receiving a letter from HSBC about their response time and she in turn contacted the bank giving them a deadline of 10 working days to respond to her and advise if my claim was heing upheld etc.

KIMY

Hope you dont mind me asking why did you take your claim to FOS ?
Mine has been with adjuicator since April and only response she has had is to state they cannot locate my paperwork. Last week she sent me a email to say due to 31st August deadlines HFC (Owned by HSBC) they have held back response to FOS and will be letting them know what they will uphold and what claims they not accept. I dont understand as l think she should be doing what your adjuicator has done give them 10 days for response or uphold. I will patient until 31st August and then l will be straight on phone. Your adjuicator name is not Emma is it ?

magpiecottage

The 31 August deadline does not apply to either cases which have already received a final response or which have already been taken to FOS. They are subject to FOS timescales which are not defined.

KellyM_3

Hi Kimy, I basically went to the FOS last year because I was sick of HSBC mucking me around prior to the court case and felt like they were stalling my claim until the FSA put them all on hold.

I was contacted on the 16th of June by an Adjudicator who was assigned to manage my case. After taking some additional info from me I didnt hear back for a some time (I assume because the process can take a while) but then on the 17th of July i received a letter from HSBC telling me that they were looking in to it and that a decision would be made by them by August 31st.

This confused me slightly because my claim was now being managed by the Adjudicator so I emailed her asking if i needed to do anything with the letter I had received from HSBC.

She then basically told me that the letter was incorrect and because my claim was now with the FOS it should take priority over standard cases. She contacted HSBC on my behalf and gave them a deadline of 10 working days to get back to her with a decision - which they did.

By the 3rd of August I was told that HSBC had agreed to uphold my claim and the paperwork had gone across to the FOS for cross checking etc. Now Im just in the painful process of waiting for this to be complete but because they are so busy its taking ages! Im not even sure what the offer is yet but the Adjudicator said it can take up to 6 weeks for them to do their bit before the offer is officially made by the bank and the payment is made. Very frustrating because after a year of all this I just want it sorted now!lol

Good luck, my Adjudicators (Ive spoken with 2) have been really really helpful and always responded to me or followed things up quickly.

Let me know if you need any more info

K x

KIMY

Congratulations Kelly on having your claim upheld,l too had a letter of HFC stating they where still investigating which does not make sense as they gave me a final descision thats why l went to FOS. Accordinging to my adjuicator only response she has had is they stated cannot locate my paperwork. I called HFC last week to be told they are still investigating and have sent me a letter but have never received, To be honest not getting anywhere with adjuicator or HFC, all adjuicator says HFC will make descision either way before 31st but this shouldnt apply to my case. I will wait to next week and if no response will call adjuicator.

KellyM_3

Hi Kimy, I would definitely call the Adjudicator because they should be chasing the bank for you and putting strict timeframes in place for them to locate your information or proceed without it.

My loan was in 2005 and HSBC couldnt find my contract either - when the Adjudicator was on the case it didnt take long for them to move forward with the claim despite not having the paper work.

The FOS were really helpful and generally got back to me in the same day when I asked for an update, however I did find that I always needed to initiate communication otherwise iI wouldnt hear anything from them for long periods of time.

Good luck!

K

roonaldo

deadline applies to firms/banks not FOS.

KIMY

Many thanks for all you advice and support, l am going to send my adjuicator a email today and will advising you of the response.

KIMY

Just had response from my adjuicator

As far as I am aware, we are waiting until the end of August to hear what HFC Bank's position is.

I will let you know whether I have heard anything on 31 August. If I have not I will proceed with your case as normal.

All l can do is wait to 31st, l have sent back a response asking is she going to set a timeframe if no response on 31st August as they have had since April.

KellyM_3

Here is the response from my Adjudicator so Im assuming it should be the same across the board and for you too...

Following on from my previous correspondence, I have spoken to HSBC.

It appears to be of the belief that it has until the end of August to deal with your complaint. However, this is not the case.

The view taken by this service is that all cases that are already with us are to be dealt with by HSBC as a matter of priority, over those that are new to HSBC.

I have now spoken to HSBC and directed that it must provide me with a response by 3 August 2011. I shall then be in contact with you again in due course.

I trust this clarifies the current position of your complaint.

Ive also been speaking to Derek Tsang (another Adjudicator at the FOS) who has been really helpful:

[EMAIL="derek.tsang@financial-ombudsman.org.uk"]derek.tsang@financial-ombudsman.org.uk[/EMAIL]