Financial Ombudsman and Section 140A judicial review claims

wintersweater

Hi,

I just wondered if anyone had any updates and/or general information on judicial review claims challenging how the FOS deal with complaints under section 140A of the consumer credit act?

Brief background with regards to why I'm interested -

I submitted a complaint against my bank to the FOS in August 2025, which was upheld twice by an investigator and then submitted to an ombudsman for a final decision after the bank disagreed with the investigator's recommendations. In January of this year, I was told by the investigator that;

"Our service has received judicial review claims which challenge the way we approach complaints where section 140A is relevant law",

and that a decision would not be issued while the matter is considered more widely.

Can anyone provide info on these judicial review claims and whether there are any outstanding claims that haven't had a judgement that are likely to be holding up FOS judgements on section 140A complaints?

cheers!

dunstonh

The FOS has been dealing with a number of judicial review challenges about how it applies section 140A, which is why some cases have been paused while those are worked through. These JRs look at whether FOS is applying the law correctly, rather than re‑hearing individual complaints, so FOS tends to wait for clarity before issuing further decisions on similar cases.

However, there have also been changes to what the FOS can do. Effectively watering it down in places. One key thing effective from March 2026 is that where the FCA declares a Mass Redress Event and establishes a Consumer Redress Scheme the FCA then has the power to direct the FOS to handle complaints in accordance with the Redress Scheme. Additionally, the FCA can direct the FOS to refer complaints back to firms to be dealt with under the redress scheme rather than the ombudsman process.

Another change to the FOS under these March 2026 rules is that there is now a fair and reasonable test that the FOS uses to determine complaints. Where firms have complied with the relevant FCA rules in a manner consistent with the FCA's intent for those rules, the FOS must now find that the firm has acted fairly and reasonably. This prevents the FOS from acting as a quasi- regulator and ensures firms are held to standards set by the FCA and not by the FOS.

Going forward, where the complaint is in the scope of the FCA Motor Redress Scheme, the FOS is expected to refer back to lenders to be handled under the scheme rather than investigating it itself. Where the complaint is outside the scope of the scheme, then the ombudsman will still give a determination. However, this has yet to be confirmed given the additional legal challenges that are now in place