Ombudsman case

katyjane123

Hi,  recently won an affordability complaint against a company called TM Advances via the ombudsman. They were told to get in contact with me within 28 days to arrange compensation and also to remove any negative credit report from my file. Its now gone over that timeframe and the ombudsman service just keep telling me to call the company. I have done on a few occasions but they just keep telling me they will look into it. This complaint has been ongoing with the ombudsman since January 2020. I'm now 9 months pregnant and would just like to get the money back that is mine, is there any advise you can give me or places that I can go for help as its putting a real strain on me. 

[Deleted User]

They don't look like that sort of company that excels in customer service, so you're going to need to be patient.

FOS can add additional interest if they don't pay up in time, but beyond that, you're looking at arranging your own collection activity if you don't want to wait.

MalMonroe

Hi, I think that's really strange because when I had a very similar case which I took to the Financial Ombudsman last year, this is the email message I received after the FO had taken action on my behalf (company name replaced by ****)  -

"Thank you for letting me know you accept the offer made by **** .

I’ve asked **** to settle the complaint directly – so I won’t do anything more unless I hear from you.

But if you don’t hear from **** within the next four weeks – or there are any problems – please let me know."

I did hear from the company - they did what the Ombudsman told them to do and also sent me a letter through the post, so I didn't have to take any further action. 

So why is your case any different from mine?

I think you need to contact the Financial Ombudsman again, by email, asking them to now take action since so much time has elapsed and nothing has happened. I really don't understand why they offered to help me but they are not helping you. That is neither a consistent nor transparent service.

There's some info in the link below about what you can do if you're unhappy with the Financial Ombudsman's service - in the first instance, contact your case handler again. I would definitely pursue this because it's important and the time that's elapsed really is unacceptable. If they can offer to help me to reach the correct solution then they can do the same for you, surely?!

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

kaMelo

Because it's not that simple, the financial ombudsman are a dispute resolution service with no powers beyond that. Companies have agreed to their services and promised to abide by any decision they make but, if they don't the Ombudsman cannot force an unresponsive company to do anything. They can keep nudging them and adding statutory interest until they play ball but that's it. They can't take legal action against a company, that's still up to the customer if they so wish, or they can report them to the relevant regulator who can take action but it will not be quick or even likely unless the company has a pattern of regulatory breaches..