corporate plan and 2008/09 budget
January 2008
complaint trends
enquiries
Enquiries to our ‘front-line’ customer contact division, by telephone and in writing, have increased during the year, mainly because of the overdraft-charges issue. They are expected to reduce significantly in 2008/09, in line with our estimate of new complaints.
| actual 2006/07 |
budget 2007/08 |
forecast 2007/08 |
budget 2008/09 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| phone calls to our enquiry line | 341,410 | 290,000 | 350,000 | 260,000 |
| written enquiries | 286,359 | 240,000 | 285,000 | 210,000 |
| total | 627,769 | 530,000 | 635,000 | 470,000 |
new complaints
The total number of new complaints is expected to fall. This reduction is mainly due to a further fall in mortgage-endowment complaints, and to overdraft-charge complaints being put on hold during the current High Court case.
| types of complaint | actual 2006/07 |
budget 2007/08 |
forecast 2007/08 |
budget 2008/09 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| endowments linked to mortgages | 46,134 | 32,000 | 14,500 | 10,000 |
| pensions | 3,687 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| other investments | 13,108 | 10,000 | 9,000 | 10,000 |
| banking and loans | 15,733 | 17,500 | 54,800 | 24,000 |
| insurance | 15,730 | 14,500 | 19,000 | 21,000 |
| consumer credit | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 |
| total | 94,392 | 80,000 | 103,300 | 72,000 |
mortgage endowment complaints
We have assumed that the number of new cases about mortgage endowments will reduce significantly in 2008/09, mainly as a result of their falling outside the time limits set by the FSA for bringing complaints. We expect the number of new mortgage endowment cases to fall from about 14,500 in 2007/08 to 10,000 in 2008/09.
banking complaints
In July 2007 the OFT and FSA announced a test case in the High Court on charges for unauthorised overdrafts. This also involved the FSA granting a waiver enabling current-account providers to put relevant complaints on hold, pending the outcome of the High Court action. We are assuming that no further complaints of this type will be referred to us until the test case is finally resolved, apart from financial-difficulty cases and small-business cases.
We have completed those cases, referred to us before the High Court case was launched, where offers had been accepted by customers. However, approximately 14,000 cases remain on hold, awaiting the outcome of the test case in the courts. It is unclear how long it will take for the litigation to run its course and how much subsequent work will remain for us to do on individual cases. So we have erred on the side of caution and assumed that these cases may not be finally closed during 2008/09. To avoid materially distorting the figures, we have excluded them from the work-in-progress ratios for the year.
We are assuming an underlying increase of 5% in complaints about other banking products.
other complaints
We are assuming an increase of 10% in insurance-related complaints, partly because of the media focus on payment-protection insurance, and a similar increase of 10% in investment complaints.
Our new consumer credit jurisdiction came into force as recently as April 2007. So we have only limited experience to use as a foundation for future forecasts. But we do not expect this jurisdiction to produce significantly more complaints in 2008/09 than in the current year.
closures
Cases resolved and closed in 2008/09 are expected to fall to 84,000, reflecting the lower number of adjudicators following our restructuring, together with a change in the overall mix of cases.
timeliness
The time taken to resolve and close a case is expected to improve in 2008/09, with approximately two out of every three cases closed within three months and 80% of cases expected to be closed within six months.
workload plans
| opening work-in-progress | actual 2006/07 |
forecast 2007/08 |
budget 2008/09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| mortgage endowment cases | 47,572 | 29,829 | 13,329 |
| other cases | 16,745 | 17,207 | 29,007 |
| total | 64,317 | 47,036 | 42,336 |
| new complaints | actual 2006/07 |
forecast 2007/08 |
budget 2008/09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| mortgage endowment complaints | 46,134 | 14,500 | 10,000 |
| other complaints | 48,258 | 88,800 | 62,000 |
| total | 94,392 | 103,300 | 72,000 |
| cases resolved | actual 2006/07 |
forecast 2007/08 |
budget 2008/09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| mortgage endowment cases | 63,877 | 31,000 | 14,000 |
| other cases | 47,796 | 63,000 | 70,000 |
| total | 111,673 | 94,000 | 84,000 |
| closing work-in-progress | actual 2006/07 |
forecast 2007/08 |
budget 2008/09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| mortgage endowment cases | 29,829 | 13,329 | 9,329 |
| other cases | 17,207 | 29,007 | 21,007 |
| total | 47,036 | 42,336 | 30,336 |
| bank charges on hold | 0 | 14,000 | 14,000 |
| total | 47,036 | 56,336 | 44,336 |
| work in hand (weeks) | actual 2006/07 |
forecast 2007/08 |
budget 2008/09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| mortgage endowment cases | 23.9 | 52.9 | 34.7 |
| other cases | 18.6 | 22.3 | 15.6 |
| total | 21.7 | 29.8 | 18.8 |
| productivity | actual 2006/07 |
forecast 2007/08 |
budget 2008/09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| mortgage endowment cases | 4.5 | 2.8 | 3.0 |
| other cases | 3.6 | 4.5 | 4.6 |
| total | 4.1 | 3.7 | 4.3 |
| % closed within 3 months | actual 2006/07 |
forecast 2007/08 |
budget 2008/09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| mortgage endowment cases | 19 | 15 | 15 |
| other cases | 51 | 60 | 65 |
| total | 34 | 45 | 60 |
| % closed within 6 months | actual 2006/07 |
forecast 2007/08 |
budget 2008/09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| mortgage endowment cases | 44 | 35 | 35 |
| other cases | 81 | 85 | 85 |
| total | 61 | 70 | 80 |
| % closed within 9 months | actual 2006/07 |
forecast 2007/08 |
budget 2008/09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| mortgage endowment cases | 69 | 50 | 50 |
| other cases | 89 | 90 | 90 |
| total | 76 | 75 | 85 |
| % closed within 12 months | actual 2006/07 |
forecast 2007/08 |
budget 2008/09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| mortgage endowment cases | 79 | 60 | 60 |
| other cases | 92 | 95 | 95 |
| total | 85 | 80 | 90 |