Ombudsman News 165

We’ve refreshed our guidance on making awards for distress or inconvenience. Our approach hasn’t changed, but our stakeholders tell us that more detailed guidance will help financial businesses and their customers reach a fair outcome. In his blog, Garry Wilkinson, Principal Ombudsman and Director of Investigation, outlines why fair compensation is about assessing the impact on the individual consumer.

If your customer has lost out as a result of a mistake, there may be different types of compensation to consider. In some cases, it’s not just about the financial impact, you’ll need to consider the practical and emotional impact of a mistake as well.

We’re providing more detail in our online guidance on making awards for distress or inconvenience to help financial businesses reach a fair outcome first time. 

We have also refreshed our information for consumers, to help them understand when we might make this kind of award – and, if they have made a complaint, to understand whether they’ve been treated fairly.

Following unprecedented demand for our help during the pandemic, in particular over the course of last year, we are exploring a range of initiatives to help us move faster and reduce customer waiting times, including a temporary proposed change to how we publish firm-specific complaints data.

There's still time to send us your response to our consultation, which is open until Monday 18 October. Read the full document, and find out how to respond, on our website.

Last week, we hosted an online workshop for members of the Consumer Credit Trade Association (CCTA). Our Ombudsman Leaders for consumer credit, Sarah Conway and John Wightman spoke to lenders about our approach to unaffordable lending complaints, as well as sources of information and support for businesses as part of our commitment to sharing our insight to help prevent complaints arising.