Christmas tips from the Financial Ombudsman Service to help protect consumers’ festive finances
4 December 2024
Consumers can take some easy steps to protect themselves from unexpected financial worries this Christmas.
The announcement signals the opening of a new hub in Northern Ireland for the Financial Ombudsman.
We have launched a recruitment campaign in Belfast for the first time, with 44 investigator roles available to people across the region.
We’re a UK-wide, free and easy-to-use service that settles disputes between consumers and financial businesses, makes thousands of decisions a year and is seeking investigators to play a key role in this.
With three other regional hubs in Edinburgh, Manchester and Cardiff, we’re now expanding our operation into Northern Ireland to better reflect the needs of our growing customer base.
These unique roles will see investigators making evidence-based decisions about a variety of topics including banking and insurance. We’re looking for candidates who are level-headed, curious and detail-focused and who want to play a key role in shaping fair financial outcomes for consumers and businesses across Northern Ireland.
With these new roles, we offer prospective candidates a spot in an 18-week training academy, including one week of residential training in London.
Investigators will work in a hybrid pattern, with travel to the newly hired hub office space required every eight weeks for collaboration and training.
Abby Thomas, Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service said:
I am delighted we’re launching our recruitment campaign and opening a new hub in Northern Ireland, meaning we now have hubs in all four devolved nations. This will enable us to better reflect the needs of consumers and businesses.
These are incredibly important roles – when consumers ask us for help it’s often at very difficult times in their lives so it’s crucial, we have a first-rate team in place to investigate their complaints.
Whilst case levels are rising, we have ambitious plans to resolve complaints faster and create a future fit workforce that can adapt and respond to the needs of our customers. We’re looking forward to helping people take the next step in their career and become part of a team that is making a difference to the lives of people in Northern Ireland.”
We’re an innovative, flexible employer who places customers at the centre of everything we do. We offer extensive benefits including a generous pension, private medical insurance, income protection and opportunities for personal and career development.
We were set up by Parliament to resolve individual disputes between financial businesses and their customers on a fair and reasonable basis, as a free alternative to the courts. We can investigate complaints relating to most types of money matters. We’re committed to sharing insight and experience to encourage fairness and confidence in financial services.
We’re committed to supporting and investing in our people to provide the best service we can to customers. We build a positive environment by listening to feedback from employees to shape their development, values and service delivery.
The provisional deadline to apply is 28 July 2024.
4 December 2024
Consumers can take some easy steps to protect themselves from unexpected financial worries this Christmas.
27 November 2024
Our newly published data shows that complaints about fraud and scams, current accounts and credit cards are at record highs.
15 November 2024
We launch a ‘Call for Input’ jointly with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to create stability for consumers and businesses.