How long can the ombudsman take?

bobbly

What's the longest time anyone has had to wait for the financial ombudsman to make a decision over a PPI complaint? I have been waiting over 20 months so far, and all I ever seem to get is the occasional letter to say that they're still looking into it and cannot tell me how long it will take.

I appreciate they must be pretty busy, but it would be helpful to have at least a rough idea of how much longer I may have to wait. Has anyone been waiting longer than this?

Also, I'm new here. Hi!

bobbly

amersall

There was a poster the other day who has been waiting......................7 YEARS _pale_
Hope you don't have to wait too much longer.

charli14

Gutted, I've been waiting 9 mth after being told 9-12mths. Better stop waiting for the postman.

[Deleted User]

charli14 wrote: »

Gutted, I've been waiting 9 mth after being told 9-12mths. Better stop waiting for the postman.

It's currently normal to wait around eighteen months, do remember that there are no guarantees of success.

bobbly

Been waiting 29 months now...

I get the impression that some of the people who were handling my complaint earlier on in the process no longer work there. I hope that hasn't had slowed things down :-/

ardupp

Lots of claimants have lost their paperwork but, being a hoarder, I've just found all mine dating back to loans taken out in 1989 and since. Please advise if I can claim against First National Bank for £773 ppi that we were told we HAD to have and secondly, I am now divorced so any repmt will have to be shared equally with me ex. Is that a problem?

dunstonh

On joint loans, any redress is shared between holders.

What evidence do you have to support your allegation? Is there any stronger complaint reason?

bobbly

Bit of an update from me:

I ended up having to wait over 4 years for the ombudsman to make a final decision about my PPI complaint, and that decision was unfortunately in favour of the company I was complaining about.

I was furious, as I really couldn't understand how they had come to that decision. I tried to forget about it, but a couple of days before the acceptance deadline, I spent a whole day writing an email which outlined why I disagreed with their decision.

The ombudsman quickly got back to me and within 3 days had agreed to change their mind in light of the "new evidence" (which they already had anyway!). The company I was complaining about did not contest this, and so I got the nearly-£3,000 I had been expecting. Understandably, they must be pretty busy with all of these complaints, but I nearly lost out there.

I guess the moral of the story is to never give up, even if it is the ombudsman who says no!

jellie

bobbly wrote: »

Bit of an update from me:

I ended up having to wait over 4 years for the ombudsman to make a final decision about my PPI complaint, and that decision was unfortunately in favour of the company I was complaining about.

I was furious, as I really couldn't understand how they had come to that decision. I tried to forget about it, but a couple of days before the acceptance deadline, I spent a whole day writing an email which outlined why I disagreed with their decision.

The ombudsman quickly got back to me and within 3 days had agreed to change their mind in light of the "new evidence" (which they already had anyway!). The company I was complaining about did not contest this, and so I got the nearly-£3,000 I had been expecting. Understandably, they must be pretty busy with all of these complaints, but I nearly lost out there.

I guess the moral of the story is to never give up, even if it is the ombudsman who says no!

On the plus side, you've got 4 years more interest at 8%.