In dispute with insurers for 3 yrs

Quentin

Have you specifically made a complaint to your insurer regarding being treated unfairly?


If not do so now and then escalate to the FOS if you are unhappy with the reply as treating customers fairly is an issue they do get involved with

Shoutingout

Hi Quentin


Yes, we've made several complaints to both the Insurers and the FOS about being treated unfairly but they have been dismissed by the Insurers, and the FOS hasn't commented on it.


Do you have any link to the FOS website or a relevant document where we can see that it's the FOS remit to deal with customers being treated unfairly?? This would be very useful so that we can take it up with the FOS. Treating customers fairly is within the FCA regulations, so our understanding from liaising with the FOS is that this is outside their reach.


Many thanks!

Shoutingout

Hi All

I'm new to this forum so Im afraid that I need to work out how to use it properly.

When replying to each post providing further details or the info requested I thought that my responses would show under each of the posts that I was responding to. This is clearly not the case so my apologies!!! :eek:

Maybe somebody could provide us with further guidance / feedback as to what our rights and options are? I'm still baffled by what the FOS can and cannot do as we seem to be getting contradictory advic. We intend to make an appointment with the CAB regarding seeking legal action, etc.

Many thanks to all in advance of your help

rs65

Shoutingout wrote: »

Yes, we've made several complaints to both the Insurers and the FOS about being treated unfairly but they have been dismissed by the Insurers, and the FOS hasn't commented on it.

Have you made a specific complaint to the insurer, had a final response and then referred it to FOS? Has the FOS formally responded?

Quentin

Shoutingout wrote: »

Do you have any link to the FOS website or a relevant document where we can see that it's the FOS remit to deal with customers being treated unfairly??.......

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/faq/businesses/answers/decide_cases_a10.html

The ombudsman service decides, in the circumstances of a particular complaint, whether an individual consumer has been treated fairly....

dacouch

Shoutingout wrote: »

Hi All

I'm new to this forum so Im afraid that I need to work out how to use it properly.

When replying to each post providing further details or the info requested I thought that my responses would show under each of the posts that I was responding to. This is clearly not the case so my apologies!!! :eek:

Maybe somebody could provide us with further guidance / feedback as to what our rights and options are? I'm still baffled by what the FOS can and cannot do as we seem to be getting contradictory advic. We intend to make an appointment with the CAB regarding seeking legal action, etc.

Many thanks to all in advance of your help

It's not too much of a problem as your posts are well written and it's fairly easy to follow the thread.

If you click on the "Quote" button underneath the post you're replying to, it will include that post highlighted in green so we know which post you're replying to.

dacouch

Have you had a good look around the Ombudsman's site, it helpfully lists previous case's they've ruled on. Whilst they do not always set a precedent the Ombudsman tends to follow previous cases and Insurers tend to abide by them.

You can perform a search of the actual Ombudsman site although I find it easier to google "Ombudsman + (Whatever topic)"

Here are a few cases or guidance from the Ombudsman that may be relevant.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/88/88-insurance-claim-disputes.htm

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/household-insurance-repairs.html

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/distress-and-inconvenience.htm

Shoutingout

rs65 wrote: »

Have you made a specific complaint to the insurer, had a final response and then referred it to FOS? Has the FOS formally responded?

Hi RS65

Yes, we included unfair treatment amongst the many complaints that we raised to the Insurers, and gave many examples. Our concerns were dismissed as subjective.


We gave the FOS copies of all our complaint correspondence to the Insurers and their responses. I sent a specific email to the FOS adjudicator highlighting several examples of us not being treated fairly as customers. There was no comment to this effect on the final decision letter, and we were baffled and surprised that the FOS wasn't commenting on this, especially when we had provided what we thought it was very revealing evidence. We did not get a verdict on the unfair treatment element of our complaint. We raised it again when it was escalated to the Ombudsman, but again no comment was made.


We're in the middle of another complaint to do with the settlement for the substandard work. Should we raise it again? We do not seem to get proper explanations as to how the FOS get to their conclusions, or why they don't withhold a specific complaint, so we find that we keep repeating ourselves like a broken record and not getting very far.

rs65

Shoutingout wrote: »

We do not seem to get proper explanations as to how the FOS get to their conclusions, or why they don't withhold a specific complaint, so we find that we keep repeating ourselves like a broken record and not getting very far.

Have you seen the links dacouch gave above? The ombudsman comes to fairly specific conclusions. Have you had anything like that?

Shoutingout

dacouch wrote: »

Have you had a good look around the Ombudsman's site, it helpfully lists previous case's they've ruled on. Whilst they do not always set a precedent the Ombudsman tends to follow previous cases and Insurers tend to abide by them.

You can perform a search of the actual Ombudsman site although I find it easier to google "Ombudsman + (Whatever topic)"

Here are a few cases or guidance from the Ombudsman that may be relevant.

Hi Dacouch


Many thanks for your tips.


I will have a proper read through it at some point. However, our case is slightly different as we're dealing with the aftermath of the repairs and the Insurers have not volunteered to take on full responsibility for the substandard work. They want us to either accept their meagre settlement offer, or to front the repairs and take on the risk, and then seek reimbursement from them, which would no doubt mean further disputes ahead...


Not only the Insurers have failed to actively progress the repairs, but we have been unfairly accused of being paramount to the delays because we have not gone ahead with all the suppliers provided by the contractor. This was never the reason for the actual delay, but the lack of agreement over budgets.


We've certainly overloaded the FOS with evidence, but what can we do if the FOS don't seem to be addressing some of the issues that we have highlighted to them? We have mixed feelings about the FOS. We have found them very helpful for some things but very unhelpful for others.