Alternative dispute resolution (or “ADR”) has long played an important role in dispute resolution. A recent report by the Civil Justice Council (the “Report”), commissioned to consider the legality and desirability of making ADR compulsory, could see ADR playing an even more prominent role in future.… Continue Reading
Last week, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) released correspondence in which the FCA sought reassurance from the FOS in relation to how it intends to handle complaints about financial firms during the COVID-19 pandemic.… Continue Reading
The Pensions Ombudsman (“PO”), the independent body that investigates complaints about pensions’ administration, has announced that it will not be able to process any new complaints for the foreseeable future. The COVID – 19 lockdown has meant that the PO can no longer collect or deal with post, although phone lines remain open between 10.00 … Continue Reading
The deadline for consumers making complaints to businesses for mis-sold PPI was 29 August 2019. In light of that deadline, the Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”) received a 72% rise in complaints in the last quarter months of 2019. Data released last week showed the total number of PPI complaints in that period was more than … Continue Reading
The Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”), the body responsible for resolving disputes between consumers, smaller businesses and financial services firms, has announced plans to increase its levies and case fees in 2020.… Continue Reading
On 1 November 2019, the Business Banking Resolution Service (“BBRS”) launched a new dispute resolution pilot in preparation for the introduction of its new service, which was originally announced in November 2018 by UK Finance, a trade body for British lenders. The service aims to provide alternative dispute resolution services for “larger” eligible small and … Continue Reading
On 15 May 2019, the Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS“) published its 2018/2019 Annual Review and some key messages for the industry emerge from that Review which we highlight in this post.… Continue Reading
The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has published a policy statement detailing that the Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”) compensation limit of £150,000 will increase to £350,000 from 1 April 2019. This follows a Consultation on the topic of the FOS award limit, which was open between October and December 2018. The new limit of £350,000 applies … Continue Reading
In a move designed to (in their own words) ‘ensure more complainants receive fair compensation’ and to ‘build consumer trust in the integrity of the industry’, on 16 October 2018 the FCA published a Consultation Paper in which the regulator outlines proposals for increasing the Financial Ombudsman Service money award limit from £150,000 to £350,000 for … Continue Reading
On 28 March 2018, the FOS published its plans and budget (“Plan“) for the 2018/2019 financial year. The Plan follows a formal consultation by the FOS with its stakeholders in December 2017.… Continue Reading
In recent judicial review (“JR“) proceedings, R (on the application of Kelly ) (Claimants) v Financial Ombudsman Service & Shawbrook Bank (Interested Party) (2017), the High Court quashed a Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”) decision to dismiss a husband and wife’s complaint involving a lender and the interested party bank (“IPB”). The Court decided that the FOS had misunderstood the nature … Continue Reading
The High Court recently considered whether a decision made by the Financial Ombudsman Service is a decision made under an arbitration agreement and so appealable under the Arbitration Act 1996. Background to the application Back in 2011 a Mr Wayne Charlton invested in a self-administered personal pension (a “SIPP”) administered by Berkeley Burke. After one … Continue Reading
As discussed in a previous blog (3 May 2017), consumers seeking compensation in relation to any new payment protection insurance (“PPI“) complaint will now have until 29 August 2019 to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service about any alleged mis-selling by lenders. The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA“) has announced the final deadline in an attempt to draw … Continue Reading
Claims’ Management Companies (“CMCs”) offer legal claims and complaint management services to members of the public. Historically, CMCs work to bring large numbers of complaints against financial services companies and recent areas of focus have been PPI and interest rate hedging mis-selling complaints. Whilst some CMCs are reputable, others try to rally business through unsolicited calls/texts … Continue Reading
In a previous blog post, we discussed how the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA“) was backing a call by the banks for the introduction of a two year cut-off for PPI claims. Deadline The FCA has now announced that the final deadline for making a new PPI complaint will be 29 August 2019. Andrew Bailey (Chief … Continue Reading
The recent case of R (Aviva Life and Pensions) v Financial Ombudsman Service discusses and reaffirms the position that the Financial Ombudsman is not bound to follow the law when making its determinations but must instead make decisions that are “fair and reasonable in all the circumstances”. This reaffirms the Court of Appeal decision in R (Heather Moor … Continue Reading
The Financial Ombudsman Service has sent a clear message to financial advisers that they must be vigilant to the risk of fraud when processing transactions on behalf of their clients. In its 23 August newsletter the FOS highlighted a recent case in which an adviser was ordered to pay fraud losses that the Ombudsman considered … Continue Reading
