escalation past FOS possible?

soolin

As this is an ongoing case I'm afraid my background info will be brief.
Basically though I went via Resolver (case opened April 2020) to claim against a bank. This was escalated within Resolver to the FOS in August 2020 , this sat undealt with (although I sent regular reminders to the FOS that this was waiting for attention) until August 2021.

In late September 2021 the Financial Ombudsman Service found in my favour and their report stated that the bank needed to refund my XX amount in full, but gave them 2 weeks to respond. Bank failed to respond but were given extra time (no idea why) and they finally sent more paperwork. That paperwork was rejected as irrelevant and bank were given 2 weeks to supply anything further- again bank failed to do so and were given extra time (again no idea why) . All this extra time the bank were given pushed  us into November where bank were told the original decision stood and they had 2 weeks to agree or appeal before it was published and sent to an Ombudsman for review. That time expired over a week ago and I have emailed asking for an update - usually I get either an out of office response or a 'sorry we are really busy and will get back to you' type of response, this time I am getting no response at all.

I understand that this is a difficult time of year but my patience is running thin now especially as bank were given weeks of extra time due to their failure on several occasions to respond to the FOS. I accept I am probably stuck now until the New Year but do I have any further steps at all, anybody I can go to above the FOS if I can't get any response or if the bank fail to acknowledge the FOS ruling?

penners324

You lodge a County Court claim against the bank

MACKEM99

Money claim on line?

soolin

EDIT
have phoned FOS apparently my case handler has left and case has been passed to a new handler who is not up to date with situation. The bank is to be given a new deadline and realistically nothing at all will be done now until the New Year.
I have found this online
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/who-we-are/service-standards/service-complaints
and have said both on the phone and in writing that I am unhappy with the delays and extra time being given to the Bank and asked whether it can be reviewed by a manager.

I was warned that if this does need to be escalated to the Ombudsmen then they will start again at the beginning and may well come to a different conclusion. 

I'm beginning to wonder why I bothered.

eskbanker

If it's only been dealt with by an adjudicator so far then you can ask for it to be escalated to an actual ombudsman for a final binding decision, enforceable by law, but realistically there aren't any options to expedite progress if you're in a hurry, so continuing through the FOS process probably makes more sense than going outside it....

Edit: I was distracted while typing that so had started it before seeing your 10:44 update, in which you're obviously aware of ombudsman escalation!  However, FOS have form for giving banks plenty of latitude when it comes to compliance with deadlines and instructions, as you'll see if you plough through this lengthy thread from a few years ago:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5899463/when-banks-dont-act-on-fos-findings/p1

I still think that pestering FOS remains the most appropriate option rather than going legal, but appreciate that it's a frustrating exercise!  There is the possibility of complaining about FOS's handling of your case (process, not outcome), via their independent assessor:

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

Section62

soolin said:

EDIT
have phoned FOS apparently my case handler has left and case has been passed to a new handler who is not up to date with situation. The bank is to be given a new deadline and realistically nothing at all will be done now until the New Year.
I have found this online
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/who-we-are/service-standards/service-complaints
and have said both on the phone and in writing that I am unhappy with the delays and extra time being given to the Bank and asked whether it can be reviewed by a manager.

I was warned that if this does need to be escalated to the Ombudsmen then they will start again at the beginning and may well come to a different conclusion. 

I'm beginning to wonder why I bothered.

I would make a complaint about the way the FOS have handled your complaint - don't just leave it as asking them for a review by a manager, make it clear you now want this to be treated as a formal complaint (and get a complaint reference number)

They should have kept you up to date with progress on the case, and had a proper handover when the first person left.

You've got their service standards, go through that and identify the things that have objectively gone wrong in how they have dealt with you and your case.

You shouldn't have been left wondering why you bothered.