Financial Ombudsman Service disputes down, resolutions up
Disputes accepted by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) dropped 7 per cent in the April to June quarter, but the number of disputes resolved jumped 12 per cent to its highest-ever number, according to FOS statistics.
Although disputes received dropped from 9,590 to 8,920, this figure was still 7 per cent ahead of the 8,364 received in the prior corresponding quarter, FOS said in the latest edition of its 'The Circular' publication.
Almost two thirds of the 9,785 cases resolved were resolved by the financial services provider, and a further 9 per cent were resolved by agreement. Just 3 per cent were settled in favour of the applicant and 4 per cent in favour of the financial services provider, while 17 per cent were either discontinued or deemed to be outside the FOS terms of reference.
FOS said it is also conducting a review of eight specialist resolution group process areas for dealing with disputes to determine the best use of people and resources and to reduce backlog.
It is currently seeking feedback via a survey on its Issues Letter process, which FOS said is correspondence it may send to the parties to a dispute outlining issues raised and seeking a response to inconsistencies or gaps in the submissions and requesting further information.
FOS also announced it would be keeping case fees unchanged for the third consecutive year at January 2010 levels.
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