Do you trust Financial Ombudsman?

masonic

Cotta wrote: »

The Ombudsman yesterday advised me it was difficult to put a financial figure on my issues but he would be looking at a "nominal amount of £50". I really feel this is quite low for everything that has went on.

Agree, this seems low. You seem to have been inconvenienced more than me, and my complaint resulted in triple the compensation. No harm in suggesting a figure you feel is more appropriate and seeing if it can be put to TSB for consideration. After all, you'd have had the opportunity to do this with them already if they'd responded to your complaint.

You may need to re-emphasise that these are ongoing issues you are continuing to suffer and you are facing the prospect of having to go through more hassle switching bank as things aren't being resolved by TSB.

Add up the value of unpaid referral bonuses and interest and ask for those to be added to your compensation figure so that you can draw a line under this chapter. Also add on the cost of any phone calls you have made.

Presumably you are at the Adjudicator/Investigator phase with the FOS, so you still have the option to have your decision reviewed by an Ombudsman, but it's better to do a little negotiation at this stage if you can.

Cotta

JuicyJesus wrote: »

I would agree with you that that's quite low in terms of monetary compensation going by what you're saying. I'm interested to know the reasoning they'll put behind it because I'm fairly sure they've instructed more compensation in similar cases. As and when you get the final decision, can you post the DRN and date of decision so we can take a look at the anonymised copy FOS post up?

Yes I can do that, in fairness thus far I haven't mentioned compensation as I wanted all issues resolved and the Ombudsman's advisor said £50 was the figure he was looking at. I do see his point in that it's difficult to put a value on having access to your funds frozen and it seems to be classified as a minor issue.

masonic

Cotta wrote: »

Yes I can do that, in fairness thus far I haven't mentioned compensation as I wanted all issues resolved and the Ombudsman's advisor said £50 was the figure he was looking at. I do see his point in that it's difficult to put a value on having access to your funds frozen and it seems to be classified as a minor issue.

So have the interest and referral money you are due now been paid to you?

Cotta

masonic wrote: »

So have the interest and referral money you are due now been paid to you?

No this is missing still.

masonic

Cotta wrote: »

No this is missing still.

The frozen funds in isolation could be considered a minor issue if you would otherwise left them there to earn interest. But there is more to your complaint than that. Before I noticed you'd replied, I edited my earlier post to add some additional information and suggestions that you might not have seen, so it might be worth another look.

In terms of the interest etc, you've taken the position that TSB should pay your outstanding interest and referral money as part-settlement of your complaint. The FOS can either ask that TSB put things right with your account, or pay you an equivalent sum to put you into the position as if you'd received the money normally. You've not been paid this money because you didn't meet the criteria (i.e. you couldn't meet the funding requirement as you didn't have access to your account). I wonder if getting TSB to fudge their system to pay you through the normal channels will be as easy as treating that money as lost and providing TSB with a monetary figure to compensate you for that loss.

Cotta

masonic wrote: »

The frozen funds in isolation could be considered a minor issue if you would otherwise left them there to earn interest. But there is more to your complaint than that. Before I noticed you'd replied, I edited my earlier post to add some additional information and suggestions that you might not have seen, so it might be worth another look.

In terms of the interest etc, you've taken the position that TSB should pay your outstanding interest and referral money as part-settlement of your complaint. The FOS can either ask that TSB put things right with your account, or pay you an equivalent sum to put you into the position as if you'd received the money normally. You've not been paid this money because you didn't meet the criteria (i.e. you couldn't meet the funding requirement as you didn't have access to your account). I wonder if getting TSB to fudge their system to pay you through the normal channels will be as easy as treating that money as lost and providing TSB with a monetary figure to compensate you for that loss.

Just had a read of your edit and you make some very valid points. I know the referral is small at £75 and this missing interest will be smaller at around £6 per month. As I haven't asked for anything compensation wise and will hold off until a final amount is offered but at £50 along with the above missing amounts I would still consider unsatisfactory. I'm not quite sure where they are getting the £50 figure from.

masonic

Cotta wrote: »

As I haven't asked for anything compensation wise and will hold off until a final amount is offered but at £50 along with the above missing amounts I would still consider unsatisfactory. I'm not quite sure where they are getting the £50 figure from.

It is of course your choice, but I fear this figure of £50, now mentioned, will find its way into the decision unless challenged. Once the decision is made, both parties have the option to object to it, at which point it will be referred to an Ombudsman for a final decision. This may introduce a further considerable delay and the added burden of the Ombudsman overruling a colleague. So if there is an opportunity to discuss the figure prior to the decision being made, I'd take it.

I doubt this figure of £50 has much basis to it.

Cotta

masonic wrote: »

It is of course your choice, but I fear this figure of £50, now mentioned, will find its way into the decision unless challenged. Once the decision is made, both parties have the option to object to it, at which point it will be referred to an Ombudsman for a final decision. This may introduce a further considerable delay and the added burden of the Ombudsman overruling a colleague. So if there is an opportunity to discuss the figure prior to the decision being made, I'd take it.

I doubt this figure of £50 has much basis to it.

Is there a compensation chart the Ombudsman works off? I could easily say £50 is not enough but what do I counter it with?

masonic

Cotta wrote: »

Is there a compensation chart the Ombudsman works off? I could easily say £50 is not enough but what do I counter it with?

From my decision letter; "On the face of it, some complaints might seem similar to others. But every customer and every complaint is unique – and compensation needs to reflect the impact on the individual people involved. We don’t add up awards for each individual error. Instead, we look at everything that’s happened - and then take a step back and decide what’s fair overall."

The real question is what do you consider a reasonable amount to be paid to reflect the impact the matter has had on you? For example, would £100 for the distress and inconvenience of being unable to use your account or debit card, or update your address when you moved, plus another £100 to cover lost cashback and interest, seem fair to you?

Cotta

masonic wrote: »

From my decision letter; "On the face of it, some complaints might seem similar to others. But every customer and every complaint is unique – and compensation needs to reflect the impact on the individual people involved. We don’t add up awards for each individual error. Instead, we look at everything that’s happened - and then take a step back and decide what’s fair overall."

The real question is what do you consider a reasonable amount to be paid to reflect the impact the matter has had on you? For example, would £100 for the distress and inconvenience of being unable to use your account or debit card, or update your address when you moved, plus another £100 to cover lost cashback and interest, seem fair to you?

I would have thought £50 for each of the months I could not get access to my account = £200 plus the missing interest and referral bonus.

This maybe unrealistic but I also think £50 is.