Today, Abby Thomas, our Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman, urged financial firms to do more to help consumers struggling with debt. In her keynote speech at StepChange Debt Charity’s Connected 2024 conference, Abby spoke about the role of the Financial Ombudsman Service and the rise in unaffordable lending complaints. Read the full speech, available now, on our website: https://lnkd.in/dRhQSjwg #StepChangeConnected2024 #Credit #Debt #Ombudsman
Financial Ombudsman Service
Financial Services
A free and easy to use service, set up by Parliament. We settle complaints between consumers and financial businesses.
About us
We’ve been sorting out complaints between financial businesses and their customers since we were set up by Parliament in 2001. Our service is free for consumers, and every year well over 1 million people contact us with queries and complaints about all kinds of financial products and services, for example: o bank accounts, payments and cards o payment protection insurance (PPI) o home, car, travel and other types of insurance o loans and other credit, like car finance o debt collection and repayment problems o mortgages o financial advice, investments and pensions If a financial business and a consumer can’t resolve a complaint themselves, we’ll investigate and give an unbiased answer about what has happened. If we decide someone has been treated unfairly, we’ll use our legal powers to put things right. When we decide a financial business has behaved unfairly, we tell them what they should do to put things right. And when we don’t uphold a complaint, we help give people a better understanding of why a business has acted in the way they have. Our work is often challenging, but it makes a real difference to people’s lives. Working for us means you’ll get the satisfaction of helping others, and helping to make the financial sector fairer. Our staff tell us that they’re proud of the work they do, helping to put things right. What we do here makes a positive difference every day. Find out more about what we do, what it's like to work here and the roles we offer on our career pages, or by visiting our website.
- Website
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http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
External link for Financial Ombudsman Service
- Industry
- Financial Services
- Company size
- 1,001-5,000 employees
- Headquarters
- London
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 2001
- Specialties
- bank accounts, insurance, credit, debit & store cards, loans, PPI, mortgages, repayment problems and debt collection, money transfers, financial advice, savings and investments, pensions, small businesses, claims management companies, payday loans and other lending, and Dispute resolution
Locations
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Primary
Get directions
Financial Ombudsman Service,
Exchange Tower
London, E14 9SR, GB
Employees at Financial Ombudsman Service
Updates
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Financial Ombudsman Service reposted this
Senior Operational Leader | Head of Practice - Equality & Vulnerability | Panelist & Speaker | Customer Experience | Complaints
Yesterday morning I opened the Collaboration Network's complaints series. It was brilliant to see representatives in attendance from not only across financial services, but across water and energy sectors too. I talked about the benefits of a well-integrated complaints team to delivering good outcomes for customers. When complaints teams have a seat at the table this can deliver two key benefits: 1) real time insight into the experience of customers for businesses to learn from and act on 2) delivery of a complaints journey in line with a business's values and customer experience strategy It was also brilliant to hear from others, including some previous colleagues (James C.). ⭐ To all complaints handling professionals in my network: what one thing could you do to improve the relationship between the complaints team and the wider business in your organisation? Take action. #ombudsman #complaints #learning #customerexperience Financial Ombudsman Service
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💡 Handling complaints about pensions and annuities? In 2023/24, we received more than 6,000 new cases about pension and annuity providers – many of which were about customer service issues, mis-sale, delays, and the suitability of advice. If you work for a financial business and handle complaints about pensions, we share information on our website about our approach and the cases we see that may help you handle complaints quickly and efficiently: https://lnkd.in/eu5gzNBr #PensionsAwarenessWeek #Pensions #Ombudsman #PAD24
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In the first three months of this financial year, we received 8,734 new complaints about fraud and scams. Over half of these complaints were about customers approving online bank transfers, also known as authorised push payment (APP) scams. Abby Thomas, Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman said: “Being a victim of a fraud and scam is a horrendous experience – not just financially, but emotionally too. That’s why it’s disappointing to see complaint levels rising to even higher levels. “We often hear from people embarrassed to have fallen victim to a fraud, but these crimes can be complex and incredibly convincing, and nobody should be afraid to come forward. “In recent years, we have investigated thousands of cases, returning more than £150m to those who have fallen victim to these crimes. “No matter how complex a case is, people can come with confidence to our free, independent service and we’ll investigate their complaint.” Read more about this in our latest news update: https://lnkd.in/dwk22K9U #Fraud #Scams #Complaints #Ombudsman
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Our latest complaints data shows that credit cards were the most complained about product in the first quarter of this financial year. We received 18,175 new complaints overall, of which 15,580 complaints were about perceived irresponsible and unaffordable lending. Over half of these complaints were referred to us by professional representatives. Visit our website to see the latest trends and insight in our complaints data: https://lnkd.in/ey9uBF5c #Complaints #FinancialServices #CreditCards
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In the first quarter of this financial year, we received 2,001 new complaints about buildings insurance. Many of those complaints related to claims being delayed, declined or undervalued. The increase in insurance complaints was related to the impact caused by flood and storm damage, as well as the rising cost of building materials. While at the same time contractor availability has impacted the speed of repairs. Sean Hamilton, Ombudsman Director in Insurance said: “Buildings insurance complaints have been steadily on the rise for some time, but it is concerning to see this significant change in the number of unhappy consumers coming to our service in just a three-month period. “We encourage the sector to take on board this insight and the reasons for which we are seeing cases, and to improve communications, transparency and timeliness. “If people aren’t happy with how they have been treated they should contact our free, independent service and we’ll investigate.” Find out more about this our latest news update: https://lnkd.in/esHWGhuM #BuildingsInsurance #Insurance #Complaints
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Our latest complaints data shows that we received 74,645 new complaints in the first three months of this financial year. This is an increase of 70% compared to 43,953 reported in the same period the previous year. Abby Thomas, Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman said: “It’s concerning that we’re continuing to see large volumes of complaints, particularly considering the cost-of-living crisis. “It’s vital that businesses are open and transparent with their customers, treating them with fairness and understanding. “Whilst professional representatives have an important role to play, they must ensure that their cases are well evidenced and have merit. “If consumers have a dispute with their bank or finance provider they can come directly to our easy-to-use service for free and we will see if we can help”. Read our news update and find out more about the complaints we received between April and June 2024: https://lnkd.in/d-NBrK9Y #FinancialServices #Data #Complaints
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Financial Ombudsman Service reposted this
StepChange Connected 2024: Keynote speaker added! 📢 We’re thrilled to announce that Abby Thomas, Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service, will be joining us as a guest speaker at StepChange Connected 2024 🎉 Abby brings a wealth of experience and insights from her career and current role, where she has led the Financial Ombudsman Service in delivering its vision and strategy since October 2022. We can’t wait to welcome those attending, and we have a packed agenda featuring fantastic speakers ready to share their expertise. View the agenda: https://lnkd.in/gY4CU5jN ✒ This is your final chance to join the waitlist! Demand is high, and our waitlist closes in a few days. If you’d like to attend StepChange Connected, sign up now to be notified if space becomes available. https://lnkd.in/eY5aRQRm
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Today, we’ve published data showing the number of complaints we received about financial products and services between April and June 2024/25. The full data is available now on our website: https://lnkd.in/ey9uBF5c #FinancialServices #Data #Complaints
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We're recruiting. Take a look at our website to find out more about the work of the Financial Ombudsman Service and the roles we offer – and why choosing a career with us helps to keep fairness at the heart of financial services: https://lnkd.in/ex4D8Gky #Hiring #Jobs #Recruitment
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