Ombudsman News 171

Last year we set ourselves ambitious targets, to develop and evolve our service, prevent complaints and unfairness arising, and to build an organisation with the capabilities it needs for the future. We’ve recently published our strategic measures update, which sets out how we performed in the last financial year, against the targets we set and the challenges we faced.

The Financial Ombudsman Service published the results of a temporary outcome codes initiative launched in November 2021 aimed at encouraging businesses to proactively settle complaints more quickly. The work by the Financial Ombudsman and more than 90 businesses resulted in 6,800 cases being settled and redress secured for customers of up to £22 million. This included more than £10 million in “authorised” scam complaints, with over 2,000 victims being refunded the money they had lost. 

You can find out more about the results in our latest news story on our website, or to find out more about the initiative – read our blog.

Breakdown cover (sometimes called ‘roadside assistance’) is normally provided as an insurance policy and provides help if your vehicle breaks down. We typically see complaints from consumers who tells us their breakdown cover was renewed when they no longer wanted it, or that their unhappy with the services the insurer provided.

We have information on our website for consumers and for financial businesses about our approach to dealing with complaints like this and examples of what we have said in cases we resolved.