Ombudsman - Success?
Discussion
Anyone used the Ombudsman with any success? Any tales to tell?
I've just embarked on a case after having applied for a mortgage end of last year and after a very lengthy period eventually came back rejected without explanation. Tried to find out but the lender claimed they were not at liberty to say. So I tried another lender and the same thing happened. And then another (our broker recommended giving it another shot because he could see no good reason why this wasn't happening).....again, rejected.
All three lenders refused to explain why. The only way we could find out was to deploy the services of the Ombudsman. We levied a complaint with the most recent lender (for no other reason than they were the most recent). Eventually we got a letter back saying that I had a "Fraud" status against me. Transpires this was invoked from the very first lender. So, we wrote to the first lender who sent us their "last & final letter" on the subject where they cited a fraudulant claim on my earnings and referred to a figure I was claiming to earn versus a figure on my P60. However, the figure on my P60 that they referenced (and took as my annual salary) had actually been read off the wrong section "earnings with this employer" (I had changed job two months prior). They had taken only part of my annual salary into consideration (in fact, only two months of it) as I was in new employment.
Now I'm back with the Ombudsman again with this initial lender....what chances? Need to remove the fraud status as well as re-initiate the mortgage application.....and compensation?
I've just embarked on a case after having applied for a mortgage end of last year and after a very lengthy period eventually came back rejected without explanation. Tried to find out but the lender claimed they were not at liberty to say. So I tried another lender and the same thing happened. And then another (our broker recommended giving it another shot because he could see no good reason why this wasn't happening).....again, rejected.
All three lenders refused to explain why. The only way we could find out was to deploy the services of the Ombudsman. We levied a complaint with the most recent lender (for no other reason than they were the most recent). Eventually we got a letter back saying that I had a "Fraud" status against me. Transpires this was invoked from the very first lender. So, we wrote to the first lender who sent us their "last & final letter" on the subject where they cited a fraudulant claim on my earnings and referred to a figure I was claiming to earn versus a figure on my P60. However, the figure on my P60 that they referenced (and took as my annual salary) had actually been read off the wrong section "earnings with this employer" (I had changed job two months prior). They had taken only part of my annual salary into consideration (in fact, only two months of it) as I was in new employment.
Now I'm back with the Ombudsman again with this initial lender....what chances? Need to remove the fraud status as well as re-initiate the mortgage application.....and compensation?
I give my time for free with a Quango very closely working with an other Ombudsman service. The Quango and Ombudsman approach is to not favour or support any party involved in any complaint. This is probably the most fundamental point about the concept of Ombudsman services. If this was not the case the Ombudsman would not have much credibility with the public who need help and advice nor with all the companies, whatever their size, whose activities it must of necessity investigate. The services being free also underlines our impartiality.
R.
R.
If everything is as you said, and the initial lender has made a mistake, the the outcome fro the FOS will be to pi you back in the same position as if that did not happen, I.e correct credit file, and consider the app. As this is likely a b
k drop by the lender,they might do this without having to wait (many months) for the FOS to consider the case, so you may want to point out the error to the person who wrte the final response.
Either way, keep us updated.
k drop by the lender,they might do this without having to wait (many months) for the FOS to consider the case, so you may want to point out the error to the person who wrte the final response.Either way, keep us updated.
Unfortunately,the FOS is understaffed and rather overwhelmed with casework. There's also the point that the third parties---banks, insurers, etc--- are also overwhelmed with complaints, so the time taken to complete a case depends on its complexity, and the particular third parties involved. FOS will have its own performance standards so you can always ask for this and see how the response times and other activities taken for a particular case compare to your own.
R.
R.
I'm afraid my experience of the FOS as been an utter disaster.
After 6 weeks they returned my application claiming a document was missing. It wasn't. It was attached to the form they returned!
After a further 3 months they gave me their determination. They had not addressed one third of my complaint at all, and the two thirds that they did they were at odds with the published guideance of the Ofiice of Fair Trading and Data Protection Registrar. Having waited amost 5 months for this I was given 2 weeks to notify them if I disagreed with their detrmination. I did so on 30th April 2012 and am still waiting for their formal response to this (they have acknowledged receipt).
So, by all means have a go, it's free after all, but don't expect an efficient or competent service.
After 6 weeks they returned my application claiming a document was missing. It wasn't. It was attached to the form they returned!
After a further 3 months they gave me their determination. They had not addressed one third of my complaint at all, and the two thirds that they did they were at odds with the published guideance of the Ofiice of Fair Trading and Data Protection Registrar. Having waited amost 5 months for this I was given 2 weeks to notify them if I disagreed with their detrmination. I did so on 30th April 2012 and am still waiting for their formal response to this (they have acknowledged receipt).
So, by all means have a go, it's free after all, but don't expect an efficient or competent service.
I can support the above comments. The ombudsman I give my time to frequently gets cases referred to it from the FOS and it is clear that FOS's performance standards are either poor or just too ambitious! It really is a shame when such organisations take a long time and do not address all matters.
R.
R.
I had a success with them last year, albeit on a small, petty scale. I had been a member of Green Flag breakdown, and had cause to call upon their services one day. However, following a change of car I had not supplied them with my latest reg number. In order attend to my breakdown, on the same day as updating my vehicle details, they charged me an additional £100 as an "admin" fee. Note that the cost of the policy was c.£40/year.
I argued to the FOS that this extra £100 was disproportionate and also not mentioned in the T&C. After about 8 months, I got my money back with interest. I received a couple of updates on the case via letter, and spoke with my case handler once to confirm a few details.
All in all I was impressed with how my case was handled, although maybe my view is biased because they found in my favour!
I argued to the FOS that this extra £100 was disproportionate and also not mentioned in the T&C. After about 8 months, I got my money back with interest. I received a couple of updates on the case via letter, and spoke with my case handler once to confirm a few details.
All in all I was impressed with how my case was handled, although maybe my view is biased because they found in my favour!
I have no experience with the ombudsman but one thing I do do, because I am a pervert, is read Ombudsman's News by the FOS - I find the case studies very interesting for some reason.
You can find close to a thousand case studies by going through the back issues here: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications...
You can find close to a thousand case studies by going through the back issues here: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications...
Trax said:
If everything is as you said, and the initial lender has made a mistake, the the outcome fro the FOS will be to pi you back in the same position as if that did not happen, I.e correct credit file, and consider the app. As this is likely a bk drop by the lender,they might do this without having to wait (many months) for the FOS to consider the case, so you may want to point out the error to the person who wrte the final response.
Either way, keep us updated.
Tried to speak to the lender direct and they were quite simply obnoxious to the point where they stated their final letter was just that, "final". When it was explained that they had made a mistake they hung up! Incredible really. There was no shouting or anger presented to them...just an attempt to remedy an error. So, the Ombudsman has all this detail in a letter from us now. Is it worth trying the lender again?.....part of me just wants them to get a complete spanking over this.k drop by the lender,they might do this without having to wait (many months) for the FOS to consider the case, so you may want to point out the error to the person who wrte the final response.Either way, keep us updated.
Sym7,
Piece of advice:make sure you keep all correspondence and also copies of all telephone conversations, the latter stating phone number you called, date, time and who you spoke to if you know it. Try and record the gist of the telecon without getting emotional: all this helps if you do submit a formal complaint to FOS to investigate. Snide comments etc do not go down very well! Remember too that FOS may well ensure that ALL parties have copies of the other parties' case papers, another reason to be careful about what you record.
R.
Piece of advice:make sure you keep all correspondence and also copies of all telephone conversations, the latter stating phone number you called, date, time and who you spoke to if you know it. Try and record the gist of the telecon without getting emotional: all this helps if you do submit a formal complaint to FOS to investigate. Snide comments etc do not go down very well! Remember too that FOS may well ensure that ALL parties have copies of the other parties' case papers, another reason to be careful about what you record.
R.
I'm not sure if I've really dealt with an ombudsman, but I certainly got a good result by invoking their name, although it was all down to finding out the correct wording. Summary:
A broadband account wasn't closed when I changed address, went unnoticed as I started another account with the same company and I'm a mong and didn't spot the two Direct Debits. I managed to overpay about 700 quid. Once I noticed, I pointed out this wasn't cool and asked for the money back, but was told that they had no record of me requesting closure (a phonecall, in the mists of the past) so weren't going to pay. After a fair bit of searching through arcane regulatory websites I put in an application (to ofcom or similar) to be referred to the ombudsman. This was where it got interesting (ish), as they rejected my application as I didn't have a "letter of stalemate". On that I emailed the broadband company asking for a letter of stalemate in order to take to the regulator and I pretty much had the money by return of post! It really was a magic words kind of deal.
As mentioned before, keep copies of emails/letters (as a child of the future I did it all electronically and had no problems sending emails with attachments). I also scrawled a few lines in notepad recording the date/time/customer service bod on phonecalls and a quick summary of what was said. Massively one-sided but it seems a record counts as a record!
I've heard since that companies get charged a substantial amount if the ombudsman has to write to them as part of an effort to keep their workload down. Can't vouch for how true it is, but it certainly looked as though once I asked for the stalemate letter they realised I was on the right track and they might be in for a bill. Kinda wish I'd asked for extra to cover the 3 months of emails and phonecalls!
Good luck!
A broadband account wasn't closed when I changed address, went unnoticed as I started another account with the same company and I'm a mong and didn't spot the two Direct Debits. I managed to overpay about 700 quid. Once I noticed, I pointed out this wasn't cool and asked for the money back, but was told that they had no record of me requesting closure (a phonecall, in the mists of the past) so weren't going to pay. After a fair bit of searching through arcane regulatory websites I put in an application (to ofcom or similar) to be referred to the ombudsman. This was where it got interesting (ish), as they rejected my application as I didn't have a "letter of stalemate". On that I emailed the broadband company asking for a letter of stalemate in order to take to the regulator and I pretty much had the money by return of post! It really was a magic words kind of deal.
As mentioned before, keep copies of emails/letters (as a child of the future I did it all electronically and had no problems sending emails with attachments). I also scrawled a few lines in notepad recording the date/time/customer service bod on phonecalls and a quick summary of what was said. Massively one-sided but it seems a record counts as a record!
I've heard since that companies get charged a substantial amount if the ombudsman has to write to them as part of an effort to keep their workload down. Can't vouch for how true it is, but it certainly looked as though once I asked for the stalemate letter they realised I was on the right track and they might be in for a bill. Kinda wish I'd asked for extra to cover the 3 months of emails and phonecalls!
Good luck!
OctalStan,
As far as I am aware none of the ombudsman services makes a charge to a party against which a complaint has been made with a successful outcome. Ombudsman services are usually financed as a not-for profit organisation by the relevant government department.
Possibly the reason for your quick success after mentioning the ombudsman was because the party involved decided it was more cost effective to settle your complaint then and there rather than bear the costs of contesting a complaint and maybe losing at the conclusion. In my experience this happens quite often and is an efficient outcome to all parties, and the comnplainant gets a prompt solution.
R.
As far as I am aware none of the ombudsman services makes a charge to a party against which a complaint has been made with a successful outcome. Ombudsman services are usually financed as a not-for profit organisation by the relevant government department.
Possibly the reason for your quick success after mentioning the ombudsman was because the party involved decided it was more cost effective to settle your complaint then and there rather than bear the costs of contesting a complaint and maybe losing at the conclusion. In my experience this happens quite often and is an efficient outcome to all parties, and the comnplainant gets a prompt solution.
R.
I've had success.
Alliance and Leicester, as they were, said they'd open an ISA for me. Out went £3600 from my current account, they created an ISA account and the £3600 never appeared in it.
After about 18 months and more phone calls, letters and branch visits than anyone could deem reasonable, having been told that they had no record of where the £3600 went and that I must have taken it out in cash I complained via the FOS. The money was paid back with some compensation (not much, but some) in relatively short time.
Alliance and Leicester, as they were, said they'd open an ISA for me. Out went £3600 from my current account, they created an ISA account and the £3600 never appeared in it.
After about 18 months and more phone calls, letters and branch visits than anyone could deem reasonable, having been told that they had no record of where the £3600 went and that I must have taken it out in cash I complained via the FOS. The money was paid back with some compensation (not much, but some) in relatively short time.
I've used them twice sucessfully against an electricity provider and an insurance company. I found them to be totally impartial and very good at understanding the facts. I think it helped that in both instances I put together a comprehensive chronological story with copies of correspondence. I received any monies owed plus compensation both times.
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