Ombudsman rejected claim without even investigating

hogman252

Hi all,

I have been trying to persue a claim against Leeds and Holbeck Building Society over PPI automatically included on a Mortgage.

Leeds rejected the claim but never sent out to me the rejection letter.

When i subsequently chased this up, they claimed that they had sent the letter, and either way, it was now six months on and therefore, outside of the claim period.

I contacted the Ombudsman, who refuses to even investigate my claim because the Leeds is fully entitled to complain back to the Ombudsman that they cannot investigate because it is outside of this time period.

My arguement is that the six month time limit starts from when i received the final rejection letter from the Leeds, but since i did not receive such a letter, how can i be blamed for this now being outside of thei time period.

I only want the Ombudsman to investigate my original claim. If there was no mis-selling, they i will accept this, but i am furious that they will not even investigate, over a technicality.

Can anyone offer any further advice?

[Deleted User]

hogman252 wrote: »

I contacted the Ombudsman, who refuses to even investigate my claim because the Leeds is fully entitled to complain back to the Ombudsman that they cannot investigate because it is outside of this time period.

You left it far too long to "chase" this and it's now too late. The FOS have already informed you of this.
Sorry.

hogman252

I was rather hoping for some 'Advice', not a statement of the obvious!

[Deleted User]

hogman252 wrote: »

I was rather hoping for some 'Advice', not a statement of the obvious!

Why did you leave it so long before enquiring why you had received no response to your complaint? If you had a very good reason for this delay (a bereavement, perhaps?) then you might be able to convince FOS to look at your complaint.
Otherwise,the only option available to you now is to give up and forget about this.


On a positive note, most Mortgage PPI complaints are rejected because it's still regarded as an insurance worth having. Your complaint that it was added "automatically" will not be borne out by the Mortgage "Demands and Needs" paperwork and you will have signed your permission for the insurance to be added.

Again, sorry.

tomtontom

hogman252 wrote: »

I was rather hoping for some 'Advice', not a statement of the obvious!

Advice is to let it go, you've left it too late.

hogman252

I was literally only about two to three weeks past this six month limit, and as for reasons, i work on site away from home for long periods of time. Hence situations like these are not at the forefront of my mind.

The Ombudsman has said that whilst they accept that letters can be lost in the post, they believe that this is unlikely, although they have no evidence for this, and they have stated that i should have put things in place for the collection of my post in my absense.

I have never heard of anyone on site getting other people to take care of their mail, and even if i had, it seems ridiculous of the Ombudsman to take such a high handed approach.

I cannot believe that the law is such, that a company could deliberately not send out a letter of final decision, and then if not chased up in time by the individual, they can hide behind a six month time limit started from the date of the letter that they didn't send.

In addition, i understand that the letter of final decison, must contain advice as to how to proceed next if the complainant is not happy. So how would i know how to proceed next if such a letter containing such details was not sent to me?

What can i do to urge the Ombudsman to at least investigate, even as a matter of principle?

[Deleted User]

hogman252 wrote: »

I was literally only about two to three weeks past this six month limit,

Two weeks or two days-you had six months and you left it too late

hogman252 wrote: »

as for reasons, i work on site away from home for long periods of time. Hence situations like these are not at the forefront of my mind.

Unfortunately, your delay reasons won't wash with FOS.

hogman252 wrote: »

I cannot believe that the law is such, that a company could deliberately not send out a letter of final decision, and then if not chased up in time by the individual, they can hide behind a six month time limit started from the date of the letter that they didn't send.

The "law" doesn't come into it, it's simply how the complaint regulations work. You had six months to enquire why you had not received any reply and you didn't meet the deadline.

hogman252 wrote: »

i understand that the letter of final decison, must contain advice as to how to proceed next if the complainant is not happy. So how would i know how to proceed next if such a letter containing such details was not sent to me?

Again, you never asked the Bank why you had not received such a letter.

hogman252 wrote: »

What can i do to urge the Ombudsman to at least investigate, even as a matter of principle?

As already stated (repeatedly) you can't.


You had a weak complaint anyhow, let it go...

hogman252

I understand what you are saying, but i cannot agree with you.

And in any case, you have no idea whether my claim was 'weak', as i haven't detailed here the nature or reason for my claim, only the circumstances surrounding how the Ombudsman had handled it, in my belief, awfully.

The first claim rejection letter from the Ombudsman was written by a supposed 'claims handler' who literally sent me out a standard rejection letter, who during a subsequent telephone call, then advised me to submit the claim again to the Ombudsman, only this time asking that it be actually assessed by an 'Ombudsman'.

So to anyone out there, do not believe that just by writing to the Ombudsman, that their claim will be looked at by anyone in authority. Mostly, it will be assessed by a claims handler drafted in to clear the back log of claims. So it doesn't leave you feeling full of hope!

dunstonh

I was literally only about two to three weeks past this six month limit, and as for reasons, i work on site away from home for long periods of time. Hence situations like these are not at the forefront of my mind.

A line if the sand is a line in the sand. If you gave it another two weeks then what about those that miss out in that period. They will want another couple of weeks and so on.

The Ombudsman has said that whilst they accept that letters can be lost in the post, they believe that this is unlikely, although they have no evidence for this, and they have stated that i should have put things in place for the collection of my post in my absense.

That is the consistent FOS position.

I have never heard of anyone on site getting other people to take care of their mail, and even if i had, it seems ridiculous of the Ombudsman to take such a high handed approach.

It is not high handed. Time bars exist in law.

In addition, i understand that the letter of final decison, must contain advice as to how to proceed next if the complainant is not happy. So how would i know how to proceed next if such a letter containing such details was not sent to me?

it was sent to you. You are now saying you didnt get it.

What can i do to urge the Ombudsman to at least investigate, even as a matter of principle?

You cant. If the FOS wont overrule the time bar then its game over.

On the plus side, most MPPI complaints fail. So, chances are your complaint at the FOS would not have succeeded anyway and you are not missing out.

The first claim rejection letter from the Ombudsman was written by a supposed 'claims handler' who literally sent me out a standard rejection letter, who during a subsequent telephone call, then advised me to submit the claim again to the Ombudsman, only this time asking that it be actually assessed by an 'Ombudsman'

That is the normal appeals process.

So to anyone out there, do not believe that just by writing to the Ombudsman, that their claim will be looked at by anyone in authority. Mostly, it will be assessed by a claims handler drafted in to clear the back log of claims. So it doesn't leave you feeling full of hope!

It shouldnt make you feel full of hope or otherwise. If the ombudsman overturned many of the adjudicator decisions then that would be worrying. However, the vast majority of adjudicator decisions are not changed by an ombudsman. That should give confidence of getting it right first time.

roonaldo

From a neutral point of view people are likely to believe than not that you did receive it, its just that Leeds, FOS and people dont believe you. Leeds send you acknowledgement letters and 4 week letters to inform you of progress and provide you with dates. You took over 6 months to follow this up. I actually worked as a FOS adjudicator myself four years ago and the "I didnt get that letter or document" must have been said to me by every other complainant. I've never known so much post to go missing! I know I get my letters and statements from the bank.

So im afraid FOS are correct not to look at your complaint as its out of time. Sorry its not what you want to hear.

It's a monthly mortgage PPI anyway so they probably would have rejected the complaint anyway.

meer53

hogman252 wrote: »

I understand what you are saying, but i cannot agree with you.

And in any case, you have no idea whether my claim was 'weak', as i haven't detailed here the nature or reason for my claim, only the circumstances surrounding how the Ombudsman had handled it, in my belief, awfully.

The first claim rejection letter from the Ombudsman was written by a supposed 'claims handler' who literally sent me out a standard rejection letter, who during a subsequent telephone call, then advised me to submit the claim again to the Ombudsman, only this time asking that it be actually assessed by an 'Ombudsman'.

So to anyone out there, do not believe that just by writing to the Ombudsman, that their claim will be looked at by anyone in authority. Mostly, it will be assessed by a claims handler drafted in to clear the back log of claims. So it doesn't leave you feeling full of hope!

Who did you think was going to look at your claim ? "The Ombudsman" ?