Which Ombudsman do I complain to?

morrit

So... Long story short... 
Bed bought from dreams has developed a fault.
Raised  complaint with Dreams who have put this to their insurers. Insurers have not given a satisfactory response, based on the technician they sent out not doing a proper job. Sti waiting on a technician to visit, to do a report, to send to insurers to send to dreams.

Ita been 3 months now.
Bed is under warranty, insurance is kicking their heels. 

Which Ombudsman do I report this to as this can go to either Furniture Ombudsman or Insurance ombudsman. Both are at fault, but neither will admit liability.
According to both Ombudsman, only one complaint can be open, so which Ombudsman overrides the other? 

Insurance I have records of them blaming Dreams and their appointed technician for failing to communicate properly and for not providing a satisfactory report respectively (the technician closed the case citing the mattress was soiled but the bed was sagging yet advised the insurers to close it, which they did, but they reopened it due to the nature of the report not being satisfactory).

So who do I go to? I am suffering awful pain and have done for months now, but neither have finalised their complaint. 3rd April it was first raised.

Thank you. 

pbartlett

If I read your post correctly, it is Dreams who have involved their insurers, so as you are not the customer you cannot complain to the Insurance Ombudsman.

That leaves you with 3 options: Furniture Ombudsman, a chargeback/S75 on the card you paid with, or small claims court against Dreams.

morrit

Hi. Tha ks for the reply. Sorry, my fault, should have mentioned, Dreams pulled in the insurers as I took out the extra damage insurance (a whatever happens type of extra) when I purchased the bed. So they passed me to them. 

I did wonder if it was the insurers primarily that the issue would be with. But you just clarified it. Thanks very much. 

Sandtree

First of all, check it is actually an insurance policy and not an extended warranty etc... the Financial Ombudsman covers the former and not the latter.

To be able to go to the FOS you need either 1) a final response from the insurer or 2) 8 weeks to have passed since you registered your complaint with the insurer (whichever is earlier). The FOS has legal jurisdiction on behalf of the FCA under FSMA and so has more "teeth" but has massive backlogs. Furniture Ombudsman is a voluntary scheme. 

born_again

When you received the reply you are not happy with. If any Ombudsman is available it would have been included within the paperwork.
Have you been back to this company to say you are not happy with their reply? 
Just who is the company that replied to you?

morrit

Hi.

Thanks for all the replies.

The company I have been dealing with are the insurance company I paid for when purchasing the bed.

I spoke to the Financial Ombudsman and they said they take precedence on this, however, the complaints process needs to be completed. The chap was extremely helpful in any case, giving me specific terms to mention as part of the 'lingo', and advised that I wanted a final written response to the matter. 

Less than half an hour later, the insurance company emailed back and said the in house decision team have now instructed Dreams replace the bed base after all!
So, I have asked when it will take place, but the complaint is still valid I feel, even if it's just piecemeal.