Financial Ombudsman Service

Marricked

Has anyone by any chance used the services of the Financial Ombudsman Service recently? I submitted a complaint a week ago however they said they have a big backlog because of the PPI complaints so the complaint may take longer than usual - but with no timescale.

Does anyone know what the current timescale for complaints being allocated to a handler is? Any recent experiences?

It's relating to a complaint to Barclays who have failed to respond to a complaint in over 9 weeks because they're busy. Reassuring!

Ben8282

While of course it is unacceptable for Barclays not to respond to your complaint for so long, it is my understanding that in order to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service you must first have exhausted the complaints procedure with Barclays and have received a final response from them. In the situation described above, you may find that they are unable to take your complaint.

masonic

After 8 weeks, a complaint can be referred to the FOS whether or not the company has responded.

I've had a few experiences with the FOS. Typically it is a few weeks before they start investigating a complaint. My last complaint was a year and a half ago and I had initial contact with a handler within 3 weeks.

JuicyJesus

It took 6 months for them to get around to saying "oh, it's sorted? No worries then" about a complaint about a bank that I'd resolved with the bank shortly after referring it to them.

I personally wouldn't expect it to get much better quickly. There'll always be a "thing" that claims management companies/MSE like to tell people to try and "reclaim". Packaged accounts seems to be the current "thing".

eskbanker

They set out generic expectations of four months at https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/expect/how-long-it-takes:

How long it takes

On this page you’ll find out more about when you can expect to hear from us about your complaint.

There is a high demand for our service at the moment. If you’ve sent us details of your complaint, you can expect to receive an acknowledgement from us within 2 weeks – although this can be up to 2 months for a PPI complaint.

At busy times, it can take around 4 months for us to allocate your case to a case handler for assessment – although this may be longer for some product types. You can find out more about timelines for specific complaint types in the complaints we can help with section of this website.

A complex complaint, or where we need to gather more information, may mean it takes longer. If you’re facing financial hardship or severe ill health, please let us know.

I'd expect their 'busy times' to run from 1 January to 31 December each year....

SonOf

Does anyone know what the current timescale for complaints being allocated to a handler is? Any recent experiences?

There is a filtering process in place and they will look to get rid of easy complaints relatively quickly. For more complex complaints, the timescale will be longer and the decision making process could run into years rather than months. So, without knowing the complexity of your issue, its difficult to say.

It is disappointing to see so many PPI complaints go to the FOS as the uphold rate on PPI via them is now very low (under 25% now). It seems that claims companies are still just referring cases to the FOS whether there is merit or not. This clogs up the system and causes a delay for everyone.

Ironically, referring your case to the FOS after 8 weeks because of a lack of outcome from Barclays may well have extended the timescale that your complaint will take. Barclays can now put that in a deferred pile awaiting FOS communication whilst they get on with those that have not contacted the FOS yet or those later in the FOS process. So, effectively you have left a queue that you were getting close to the front to join the back of a new queue.

Marricked

Thanks for the replies everyone.

It's a mistake Barclays has made in not reopening a help to buy ISA despite continued attempts which has incurred a couple of hundred pounds worth of loss and loads of hassle.

To be honest in relation to compensation I don't expect Barclays to offer the fair amount anyway so I don't mind being at the back of the correct queue if it speeds things up in the long run.

SonOf

You may get lucky and the FOS offers Barclays the chance to resolve it without incurring the FOS fee. This sometimes happens during busy periods.

JuicyJesus

SonOf wrote: »

Ironically, referring your case to the FOS after 8 weeks because of a lack of outcome from Barclays may well have extended the timescale that your complaint will take. Barclays can now put that in a deferred pile awaiting FOS communication whilst they get on with those that have not contacted the FOS yet or those later in the FOS process. So, effectively you have left a queue that you were getting close to the front to join the back of a new queue.

The funny thing is, Barclays got back to me on my complaint before FOS had even acknowledged me escalating it to them, let alone informing Barclays of the complaint apparently. And, as I say, it then took another six months for them to actually try and allocate it, by which point Barclays had compensated me and I'd closed my Barclays account on the basis that they were crap.

It's just under-resourced and it's being gamed by claims management companies, and the periodic "reclaim!!!!" campaigns don't help much either.

michaelnotwinner

I have 2 complaints running, both against First Direct.
One started in April 2019 and the other in July 2019.
Both are still outstanding.
If you complain then they just apologise for having a big backlog.
If you escalate then they say that you can only escalate once the complaint has been resolved.
The whole service is out of and a joke

masonic

michaelnotwinner wrote: »

I have 2 complaints running, both against First Direct.
One started in April 2019 and the other in July 2019.
Both are still outstanding.
If you complain then they just apologise for having a big backlog.
If you escalate then they say that you can only escalate once the complaint has been resolved.
The whole service is out of and a joke

If you are complaining about the Financial Ombudsman Service's handling of your case and you are not satisfied with the initial response, you should follow their complaints procedure (https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/who-we-are/service-standards/service-complaints). The next step is to ask a manager to look at the complaint about the service you've received. If that doesn't work you can refer your complaint to the Independent Asssessor (https://www.independent-assessor.org.uk/make-a-complaint.html).

"In most cases I carry out my investigation after a case has been concluded and closed. This is because a service complaint and the case against the financial business are two separates processes. And I believe it is more efficient to review a service complaint once the case is closed, so that I can look at the entire case journey. However, customers should still get in touch with my office within the three months of the senior manager’s response to make us aware of their intention to complain."