MSE guide to using the Financial Ombudsman

IZZY01

DUDDERS wrote: »

Just Accepted Via Fos £2848.00 From Lloyds Tsb On 25/07/07
Get Told It Will Take 28 Days To Hit My Account But Lloyds Are Paying Out 7-10 Days To Customers Dealt Direct With Them.
I Think It Unfair
Any Thoughts Out There

Hi dudders,
I received an offer from BOS through FOS and have been advised it will take up to 6 weeks. Reading other posts direct claims are being paid out in 14 days. Bit of a bu!!er but better late than never!!

smithj_2

MSE_Wendy wrote: »

Have you used the Financial Ombudsman to help with Bank Charges Reclaiming or Credit Card Charges Reclaiming?

If you have let us know what you think, was it quick and easy or slow and unhelpful?

We welcome any feedback so please click reply to discuss.

Thanks

MSE Wendy

I have claimed back nearly £14k of bank charges from credit card companies and banks ,GE MOney owe me £9000 for mortgage and loan fees.
Had fob off after fob off letter from them ,so i decided to put a complaint in to the OFT.
5 MONTHS LATER i get a letter from them saying that they have passed the complaint on to GE Money and they should write to you within 8 weeks of this letter.
1 week later i recieved a letter from GE Money saying that their charges are all legal and fair and they wont be paying me back a penny .
Great waist of 5 months thanks OFT .

Former_MSE_Wendy

Thanks for your post smithj but the OFT is separate from the FOS. Were the FOS abke to help you at all?

Wendy

novelli

I have found then really slow!!! AND they didnt include the letter they said they sent the bank on my behalf when they sent paperwork back. Bank havent acknowledged their letter of 28th sept anway, now they say that i MUST fill in another complaint form for the case to be given to an investigator. Apparently they dont keep any opf the paperwork due to space problems. This means i have to send all the stuf back again and no doubt wait another few months for it to be allocated a case worker!!!
When i eventually did get them to email me a copy of what they sent to the bank i was disappointed that its just some sort of tick box form, not explaining my circumstances or anything.
U would have thought that thewy would keep cases open and so keep the paperwork until the case was resolved but they dont!!! All this is just wasting time and costing postal fees etc.
I am claiming under the hardship rules, but the letter/form they sent the bank didnt go into any detail re how the bank is not sticking to the waiver by refusing to acknowledge this or give them any implication that they were in the wrong!!! And if the bank have now chosen to ignore their letter u would think they would be jumping on them, but they not really interested. Its down to me to send another complaint and then they allocate it to someone, wel why wasnt it allocated to someone in the first place. Heaven knows they had all the details. Seems to me that the 8 weeks its taken to get this far have been a total waste of time, whilst i am still getting further charges!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FOS told me that the bank had until 2nd october at latest to reply, they havent, but FOS still say well i have to write to them and send everything back!! rediculous!!

harveymoo

People should stop WHINING about FOS...no, it's not perfect, but it's FREE!!!!!! It might take a while but costs you nothing but your time and, occasionally, the price of a stamp. If that unhappy, people should go straight to court and see how much THAt can end up costing....

novelli

I just think they need to be tougher on the banks, instead of letting them get away with breaching the code. they are afterall supposed to be there for the consumer not the bank!!!
and it wouldnt cost me anything via court actually as am on benefits!

we were asked our opinions, so dont then expect to get told to stop whining!:mad:

hughie278

Ive just filled out my complaint form for the FO and i need some info i can anyone?

Im claiming against Egg, and have had three letters from them, and they three from me. They have made a final offer so im going this route. Ive attacked my list of charges and interest and the final response from Egg. is this all i need to do?

What can i expect to happen after i post it off? Whats the usual happenings here?

victoriaplum1

I just went onto the FoS site to fill out form and submit as got nowhere with bank only to find the following :
'
The Financial Ombudsman Service has decided, for the time being, not to continue its work on complaints about unauthorised overdraft charges - until important legal action in the High Court settles key questions about these charges.
Our consumer factsheet on unauthorised overdraft charges tells you the latest on what's happening in the High Court on bank-charges disputes - and what this means for consumers, the banks and the ombudsman service: v

so looks like is a waste of time doing anything more at this stage....take it those of us who are at stage where bank has got our claim but is waiting on the High Court result just have to wait unless we go Court route...is anyone going court route anyway any success?

ALIBOBSY

My understanding is both FOS and the courts are suspending cases until at least the first part of the test case is over. However this case is for bank current account/overdraft charges, so claims for credit card charges should still be looked at. If you claim in court for bank charges the judge will probably impose a stay on the case pending the test case results, however I have heard of people trying to overturn the stay, mostly quoting hardship reasons. Some sucessful some not. Not fair that customers claims are put on hold till they decide if charges are lawful, but they didn't suspend the banks right to impose them on accounts.
Good luck
ali x

willtheywontthey

Just wanting to share experiences that might assist newbies wondering whether using the Ombudsman is actually worth it in relation to credit card charges.

I basically started asking for charge detalis and sent form to ombudsmanin November / December.

It was mainly January I reveived replies from credit crad companies saying no way or have a token sum. Late January I then started getting Ombudsman stating the credit card companies were not budging (lies damned lies!) which led to Ombudsman then sending serious letter off asking for more info. It was at this stage the companies came back saying we deny liability but have the full amount as a goodwill gesture. A whole heap of these came in last couple of weeks.

So far:

Halifax - £350
Alliance + Leicester - £400
Barclays - £90
Norwich Union - £250
RBS - Mint £300
Marbles - £1500
C-operative - £400 + telephone record deleted at last so no more harassing phone calls off this annoying company.
and a few others I canor recall - mainly RBS spin offs.

Now I've refused Capital One's offer as they did not deal with my telephone harassment issue in their financial settlement offer - cheeky sods.

Am after HFC again now for telephone harassment

so perservere be organised and patient!