Financial ombudsman...who regulates them?

[Deleted User]

MartinisTHEWAY wrote: »

I am baffled as to how the financial ombudsman has not come under the microscope because to me they are definately not on the side of the consumer.

They are not intended to be. They are the independent arbiter of disputes between financial institutions and their customers. They are financed by the firms which effectively pay a punitive fee (win or lose) for every complaint that is referred for them

MartinisTHEWAY wrote: »

Id a case against myjar payday lender and for £!5 they reversed the decision to favour my jar, when i appealed and included CSA payments of £288 i hadnt included they simple ignored it and stuck to previous decision.

Obviously, it's very difficult to comment on individual cases without full access to all the details from both sides, but it's still important for you to realise that they not supposed to be a consumer champion.

Bermonia

There is a serious misconception by the public that the financial ombudsman service are ‘consumer champions’ or some kind of regulator.

They are an independent dispute resolution service, which means they consider both sides and any relevant FCA rules and give an ‘opinion’. The reason it is an opinion is because in most cases both parties are giving differing version of events so FOS will rarely state something which they were not originally party too as being a fact.

As any issue of this type the burden of proof falls on the accuser, this means there needs to be sufficient enough evidence supplied to safely conclude that there was a wrong doing... banks are usually MUCH better at supplying evidence to support their stance.

Trust pilot is littered by those throwing a tantrum cos they didn’t get their way or by ‘paid for reviews’. The FOS publish their states in relation to upheld case ratios, these will show you that they are NOT simply in the bank’s pockets... far from it!

SonOf

MartinisTHEWAY wrote: »

I am baffled as to how the financial ombudsman has not come under the microscope because to me they are definately not on the side of the consumer. Id a case against myjar payday lender and for £!5 they reversed the decision to favour my jar, when i appealed and included CSA payments of £288 i hadnt included they simple ignored it and stuck to previous decision. This is not just sour grapes on my part anyone looking trust pilot for reviews will see how badly the financial ombudsman is rated by the public.

You are correct. They are not on the side of the consumer. They are not meant to be. Equally, they are not on the side of financial firms. They are an independent arbiter of complaints and do not take sides. Although generally, they are more considerate to consumers than the courts would be as they don't just look at FCA rules and guidelines but also condsider fairness. So, if anything, there is a slight consumer bias.

Online reviews are often pointless and people who win tier cases via the FOS will rarely add a review. Whereas those that blame the FOS for not siding with them will blame the FOS even when its not the FOS fault.

OceanSound

MartinisTHEWAY wrote: »

I am baffled as to how the financial ombudsman has not come under the microscope because to me they are definately not on the side of the consumer. ....

SonOf wrote: »

You are correct. They are not on the side of the consumer. They are not meant to be....

You've misunderstood. He said 'definitely not on the side of the consumer'.

I don't put much faith in truspilot reviews either. However, when the bad reviews are closing on 90%, it tells us something.

As a test, search for natwest.com you will see 82% bad reviews. Then search for First Direct, you will see 57% bad reviews. Then go to the MSE bank customer service poll you will see first direct at top and natwest at 9th place.

All I'm saying is you can only brush so much dirt under the carpet. If you continue, it's bound to seep through at some point.

[Deleted User]

OceanSound wrote: »

You've misunderstood. He said 'definitely not on the side of the consumer'.

I think it was meant ironically. Obviously the user concerned did hope the adjudicator would automatically side with him and it's not clear from his post exactly what FOS did wrong.

OceanSound wrote: »

I don't put much faith in truspilot reviews either. However, when the bad reviews are closing on 90%, it tells us something.

Yes, it tells us that 90% of those who bothered to leave a review (itself a tiny proportion of the actual cases) were disgruntled complainants whose complaint was not upheld.

There is little point comparing the results of a complaint resolution service with financial institutions like Banks as their reviews are not based solely on the resolution of complaints.

OceanSound

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

I think it was meant ironically. Obviously the user concerned did hope the adjudicator would automatically side with him and it's not clear from his post exactly what FOS did wrong.

The user concerned was being sarcastic. You friend failed to see this, and took it literally. This is confirmed by his dropping the 'definitely' when he paraphrased the user concerned.

Yes, it tells us that 90% of those who bothered to leave a review (itself a tiny proportion of the actual cases) were disgruntled complainants whose complaint was not upheld.

No. If a service is good and proper the users will leave positive reviews.

There is little point comparing the results of a complaint resolution service with financial institutions like Banks as their reviews are not based solely on the resolution of complaints.

I was comparing a bank with another bank. (Natwest versus First Direct).

anyway, if you wanna see how ombudsman services compare with each other, you should familiarise yourself with the report published by Martin Lewis a few years ago:
https://images6.moneysavingexpert.com/images/documents/MSE-Sharper_teeth_interactive.pdf

You will see user experience with the Financial ombudsman is not the best (page 54).

% users experiencing poor service:

Financial Ombudsman (FOS): 54%
The Energy Ombudsman: 45%
Ombudsman Services: Communications: 50%

Since the report, the service at the FOS has deteriorated further as exposed by Channel 4's dispatches programme and a parliamentary Treasury Committee inquiry that followed.

It has since come to light that the FOS tinkered with spreading the specialised areas such as pensions and mortgages (previously worked on by specific adjudicators), so that any adjudicator can work on these. However, have since reverted to the old system. Honesty, you couldn't make it up.

[Deleted User]

OceanSound wrote: »

The user concerned was being sarcastic.

That's what I meant when I said it was an ironic comment, not response.

OceanSound wrote: »

If a service is good and proper the users will leave positive reviews.

Not, as I said earlier, where a complaint resolution service is concerned. It's to be expected that the majority of reviews will be from those who feel disgruntled that their complaint has not been upheld. 10% of the tiny percentage who bother to leave reviews did give a positive.

As to your other remarks, you have already made these points repeatedly on this thread since October 2016 and I don't propose to repeat that discussion now...

OceanSound

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

That's what I meant when I said it was an ironic comment, not response.

Your friend failed to see it as that.

...As to your other remarks, you have already made these points repeatedly on this thread since October 2016 and I don't propose to repeat that discussion now...

My other remarks, particularly the part about the tinkering hasn't been mentioned on this thread up to now. Anyway, you lot are always partial to a bit of repetition.

BTW, I've only replied to the relevant parts of your response (and trimmed down most of it), as I had addressed most of the points before.

OceanSound

if only there weren't those other pesky threads complaining about the financial ombudman. We could have put it down to their sterling service.

Jonathan_Kelvin

MartinisTHEWAY wrote: »

I am baffled as to how the financial ombudsman has not come under the microscope because to me they are definately not on the side of the consumer. Id a case against myjar payday lender and for £!5 they reversed the decision to favour my jar, when i appealed and included CSA payments of £288 i hadnt included they simple ignored it and stuck to previous decision. This is not just sour grapes on my part anyone looking trust pilot for reviews will see how badly the financial ombudsman is rated by the public.

Why do you think that you can extrapolate from your case, though, to the whole service?

No matter how consumer-friendly the service is there will always be a consumer who feels aggrieved.

Why do you believe that the decision was wrong in your case?