ask ombudsman news

our first-ever complaint, what do we do?
an independent financial adviser writes …

We are just a small firm and until earlier this month had never received a complaint from a client. However, it looks like our first complaint might end up with the ombudsman. If so, what do we need to do?

We recognise there are many firms – like yours – that receive complaints rarely and may not be used to the official procedures they have to follow when a customer raises a complaint. Last year around 85% of the firms covered by the ombudsman service had no complaints referred to us.

We will automatically send you a special factsheet – helping you resolve complaints – if a customer complains to us about your firm and:

• we know that we have not had a complaint referred to us about you before or
• we appear to get complaints about your firm only rarely.

You may also find it helpful to look at our factsheet how we handle disputes between businesses and their customers .

And you can get a quick overview of the ombudsman rules and procedures from our guide, smaller businesses and the ombudsman [PDF version opens in new window]

mortgage endowment complaints: redress
an investment firm writes …

In cases where we agree the consumer is due redress for a mis-sold mortgage endowment, but where the consumer has already converted to a repayment mortgage, should we reimburse them for the cost of conversion?

We often see cases where the consumer has already changed their mortgage arrangements and incurred conversion costs before the firm offers to pay redress for a mis-sold endowment. We would usually expect the firm to reimburse the costs of switching to a repayment mortgage, ordinarily with interest.

We would also expect the firm to pay any fees that the consumer may incur if they now use the compensation relating to a capital loss (excluding any interest added) to reduce their mortgage balance.

You'll find more about unusual redress scenarios for mortgage endowment complaints in the technical briefings section of our website.