Financial Ombudsman is a waste of time

Anonymously

Sent a complaint a year ago but for a few days.

They send me an email about every 4 months saying they have not yet allocated the case , and cannot say when they will.

If they can't deal with cases in a reasonable timescale they are not fit for purpose and I am surprised that Martin often says go to this service without issuing a health warning that it could take years not t o get a resolve but for a handler to be appointed.

GeordieGeorge

The problem is the sheer volume of people who now feel that they should be compensated for their own decisions. Sadly I don’t see the situation getting any better.

What’s your complaint about?

MalMonroe

I made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman in March of this year.

I received an automated response immediately advising that they were very busy but not to worry as they would get around to my case within the next 8 weeks. They did so, I received a phone call from my allocated handler and then had email correspondence with him until my case was completed, in my favour, at the end of May this year. 

It could be that your complaint, even though you have been receiving regular emails, has completely fallen through the cracks.

Why not contact them to complain and tell them you've been waiting for over a year when you are aware that other cases are being handled within two or three months? Why would my case have taken priority over yours? That doesn't seem fair.

How to complain info in this link : https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/how-to-complain

MalMonroe

GeordieGeorge said:

The problem is the sheer volume of people who now feel that they should be compensated for their own decisions. Sadly I don’t see the situation getting any better.

What’s your complaint about?

My own complaint, made in March of this year, wasn't a major one at all but was sorted out by the end of May this year. Something appears to have gone wrong with this OP's complaint and so they are entitled to make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman's office. 

Actually, it is not always about people who 'now feel that they should be compensated for their own decisions' at all. In my case, the financial organisation was fully at fault but would not admit it until the Ombudsman made them. I neither wanted, nor received, any compensation. I just wanted them to do the right thing and I was successful in that.

We don't really need to know what the OP's complaint is about, just that they haven't been treated as they should have been by the Ombudsman's office.  

Anonymously

I have askedon FB message to see how they respond.

This is what they said in January

"Your complaint is still waiting to be allocated to an investigator. There isn't a set timescale for this, we simply allocate complaints in date order so I'm not able to say how long it'll take. Once your complaint has been allocated, the investigator will get in touch with you. Kind regards"

This what they said in an email to me in May

"

Thank you for using our service during what has been an unprecedented year. I’m getting in touch to say that I am sorry it is taking much longer than usual for us to investigate your case and to reassure you that it hasn’t been forgotten.

 

Due to the pandemic, more people need our help and this is why it’s taking longer for cases to be allocated to one of our case handlers for investigation. But we continue to increase our capacity and take a number of other steps to help reduce waiting times.

What happens next

You don’t need to do anything. A case handler will be allocated to you as soon as possible and they’ll be in touch to introduce themselves, provide direct contact details, and explain the next steps in their investigation.

However, you might not hear anything for a few months – so please bear with us and only get in touch if your circumstances mean you need our help urgently. Our phone lines are open 8am and 5pm, Monday to Friday."

Still wonder why Martin keeps telling people to go there when FB is full of people like me.

[Deleted User]

Anonymously said:

Still wonder why Martin keeps telling people to go there when FB is full of people like me.

Because it is either use The Financial Ombudsman or start a court claim. I just remember this from years ago when I did a money claim online rather then the FOS.

Years ago before payday loan mis-selling and being rather hugely compensated in any event was a thing as just one example, I simply did start a claim against one of the lenders for the over interest they wrongly applied - got a refund via the court judgement when they didn't contest it. 

Recently I was glad when I took issue with a Council's higher bill, took two rounds of querying it for a 'system error' to be declared. I don't need to be compensated but would just like a correct bill.

Persistence pays. 

Brie

So you've popped something on to FaceBook but haven't picked up the phone to call them?  I would be doing that, or email, or send a registered letter so that you know it's got to them and hopefully they'll progress things.  Of course they may keep looking at your situation and no one can make sense of it or it's so complicated they know they can sort 20 other cases much easier.

[Deleted User]

MalMonroe said:

GeordieGeorge said:

The problem is the sheer volume of people who now feel that they should be compensated for their own decisions. Sadly I don’t see the situation getting any better.

What’s your complaint about?

My own complaint, made in March of this year, wasn't a major one at all but was sorted out by the end of May this year. Something appears to have gone wrong with this OP's complaint and so they are entitled to make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman's office. 

Actually, it is not always about people who 'now feel that they should be compensated for their own decisions' at all. In my case, the financial organisation was fully at fault but would not admit it until the Ombudsman made them. I neither wanted, nor received, any compensation. I just wanted them to do the right thing and I was successful in that.

We don't really need to know what the OP's complaint is about, just that they haven't been treated as they should have been by the Ombudsman's office.  

You need to read his post clearly. He isn't saying OP is a dodgy case, nor that everyone there is. However, it is an undeniable fact that at one point, 50% of PPI complaints being sent to the FOS were from people who didn't even have PPI yet felt they were entitled to compensation. That is why complaints take so long. The delay means the FOS limited resources are stretched while they investigate things properly meaning, particularly with complex cases, longer delays. You can find examples of people who have complaints legally time barred or who have been given undeniable documentary proof that their complaint is wrong who still try and use the FOS

That said, it would be useful for OP to explain what their complaint is about and why the case went to the FOS so experienced people could provide them advice on the merits of the case, what else they can do etc.

Anonymously

Basically it is a complaint against Verex Insurance trading as Suzuki Insurance, who offer their services to Suziki owners who have been involved in an accident and promise to take care of everything. They made such a mess that Suzuki themselves (through their customer services manager) more than apologised for the poor  treatment, poor repairs, tring to swindle money from me for a hire car and it goes on. Suziki did have words and top management of Verex were involved, but I was not happy with the outcome, so I sent the claim to FO, which is where i was told by both Suziki and Verex was the regulator. I sent full email copies to FO and when I was told that they could not give me  date when it would be handled I complained to the Indepenent Assessor and received this reply

"If you remain unhappy with the Service’s handling of the case you may refer back to us once the case has concluded and the Independent Assessor will be able to assess whether there were any period of avoidable or unreasonable delay, in addition to how the matter was handled overall"

So no joy on the complaints upwards if they have not appointed a handler.

I will see what their FB response is on Monday and consider my next move , probably to involve my MP.

dunstonh

Basically it is a complaint against Verex Insurance trading as Suzuki Insurance, who offer their services to Suziki owners who have been involved in an accident and promise to take care of everything. They made such a mess that Suzuki themselves (through their customer services manager) more than apologised for the poor  treatment, poor repairs, tring to swindle money from me for a hire car and it goes on. Suziki did have words and top management of Verex were involved, but I was not happy with the outcome, so I sent the claim to FO, which is where i was told by both Suziki and Verex was the regulator. 

The FOS is not the regulator but the regulator doesn't act on consumer complaints.
Did you actually complain to the Verex first?  I mean a proper complaint where you received information on how the complaints process works and your right to refer the complaint to the FOS if you disagree?     Just checking in case that bit hasn't happened.  If it didn't, the FOS would not be able to handle the complaint.

Anonymously

Months of correspondence between us and had a final letter  from them saying if I don't agree I can go to FO. So I did and agree with earlier writrers they are a waste of space.

And it might be that the courts are the only altenative at present, but why does Martin recommend a service that provides no service? Instead he could put his weight behind having a service that does work.