The power to settle financial complaints.
The power to settle financial complaints.
1 July 2003
The Financial Ombudsman Service - the organisation that resolves disputes between consumers and financial firms - today publishes its annual review for 2002/03.
The review shows that during the year the ombudsman service has:
Commenting on these figures, chief ombudsman, Walter Merricks, said:
This continuing increase in complaint volumes reflects rising expectations on the part of consumers of financial services - expectations fuelled by firms' promises of better-value products and more customer-focused service. But the rift between expectation and reality can quickly open up if firms fail to deliver on these promises - leading to consumer dissatisfaction and complaints.
The downturn in the financial markets is also a major factor in the rise in complaints. Consumers nursing losses - real or potential - are more likely to feel aggrieved than those who have realised gains. And falling markets have turned into reality the risks that may have been dismissed as fanciful or non-existent at the time the products in question were sold.
Firms' customer service and complaints-handling functions need to be resourced at a level that anticipates such trends and their likely impact on consumers. It is important that consumers should be able and willing to exercise their right to complain. But consumers do, of course, need to consider whether they really were misled or poorly advised by the firm they dealt with - or whether they are simply sharing in the market decline that has affected everyone.