What's the Point of Financial Ombudsman?

wwfacp

I had a case with them a few months back in regards to Halifax choosing to close my ISA and charging me a fee worth more than the interest I earned because of early closure. Halifax thought that it didn't matter that they were the ones closing it and not me.

I closed my bank account with Halifax and switched to HSBC following the incident. I also moved address afterwards, which Halifax are aware of.

I won the initial case with Financial Ombudsman. Financial Ombudsman instructed Halifax to transfer the money to my HSBC account, which they already had the details for.

Instead Halifax decided to send a cheque in the post to my old address, knowing full well that I no longer lived there and would not be able to get the cheque. They told me that they will not be sending another and if I don't cash it in within six months, they will keep the money.

I informed Financial Ombudsman that Halifax had disobeyed their previous instructions. Financial Ombudsman told me that them disobeying the instructions FO provided them with would count as a new case that I would have to raise with FO.

I lost the new case with FO as they apparently don't take into consideration decisions made on previous cases, so any rulings made are completely meaningless. All they can do is decide whether it was fair for Halifax to send a cheque to an address they knew I no longer lived at and refuse to provide a new cheque.

FO ruled that this was completely fair and it is perfectly acceptable.

What is the point of FO?

Neil_Jones

Sounds like sour grapes if you ask me.
Why did Halifax close your ISA? Banks always reserve the right to close any accounts you have with them for any reason and they should have told you why they were closing it (unless it was for something like money laundering). The T&Cs of the ISA would have most likely incurred an early closure fee (typically loss of interest of anywhere from 90-365 days) regardless of who closed it.

Ballard

Halifax did not tell you that if you didn’t cash the cheque they would keep the money.

spadoosh

I cant help but think that theres stuff missing.

Its very unusual for a company to be that uncooperative with regards to paying out owed monies. Maybe a little bit awkward but outright refusing to facilitate anything suggests something is amiss.

I dont know any better but i get the impression you might have inadvertently put yourself in this position with your handling of it.

So youve spoke to them? Theyve confirmed they issued a cheque of which you said theyve sent it to the wrong address and they absolutely refuse to reissue a cheque? It just seems so far beyond reason and especially considering youve got the financial ombudsman backing you with the initial decision. Doesnt make sense.

eskbanker

If you disagree with the FOS findings then, assuming this has just been determined by an adjudicator thus far, you can escalate the case to an actual ombudsman for a formal decision that's legally binding.

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/how-to-complain

On the face of it there's no obvious reason why FOS would side with Halifax, but clearly you've summarised it down to a condensed version here - what rationale have they suggested?

KittenChops

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6025552/halifax-opportunistically-stealing-money&highlight=halifax


Same OP?

NCC-1701

KittenChops wrote: »

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6025552/halifax-opportunistically-stealing-money&highlight=halifax


Same OP?

Coincides with school holidays?

keef-WhatStandards

I've had various cases with the FO. Like of lot of things in life it depends who actually deals with your case. Some are good, others seem to be there just as a stop-off while they look for another job.

The worst part seems to be the Independent Assessor. Just the one person who has the job of clearing up any mess made by the FO. Trouble is they only seem to have a toothbrush, rather than a big broom.

The FO apoears to be very busy atm, so all they seem to do is spend time sending out is letters saying they are busy, rather than spending time actually looking into cases.

Just keep plugging away, following their long-winded procedures. Sometimes you will win and others you will lose. Doesn't seem to be any logic to it and some may say they get allocated a certain number of cases they can pass, but .....

DCFC79

KittenChops wrote: »

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6025552/halifax-opportunistically-stealing-money&highlight=halifax


Same OP?

Don't think its the same OP despite some similarities.
The OP in that link is either a troll or is languishing in a Thai jail, I know which 1 I believe.

eskbanker

keef-WhatStandards wrote: »

The worst part seems to be the Independent Assessor. Just the one person who has the job of clearing up any mess made by the FO. Trouble is they only seem to have a toothbrush, rather than a big broom.

Although the independent assessor is clearly a named individual, she has a supporting team, so isn't assessing single-handedly!

Her job isn't to clear up the FOS's mess, but to review their conduct and assess whether or not it's a mess. She doesn't have executive authority to act on the consumer's behalf or to review case outcomes as such, but can (and does) make recommendations back to FOS if/when she sees areas for improvement, etc.

https://www.independent-assessor.org.uk/
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/who-we-are/service-standards/service-complaints/independent-assessor

eskbanker

DCFC79 wrote: »

Don't think its the same OP despite some similarities.
The OP in that link is either a troll or is languishing in a Thai jail, I know which 1 I believe.

Somewhat more than 'some similarities', the story is pretty much identical across the two threads, and also includes a repeated phrase, granted not a massively unusual one but IMHO significant when combined with all the other info:

RequiredField wrote: »

they closed my account with the intent of sending me cheques in the post, knowing full well that I would not be able to encash them

[...]

they knew full well that I wouldn't get the cheque within six months.

[...]

knowing full well that I won't get it....

wwfacp wrote: »

Instead Halifax decided to send a cheque in the post to my old address, knowing full well that I no longer lived there and would not be able to get the cheque.