Welcome to the latest edition of Ombudsman News. In this edition, we highlight the recent announcement of two new senior appointments and our newly published online guidance about complaints that involve gambling-related harm. We also share our recent blog aimed at funeral plan providers joining our jurisdiction this week.
See our previous editions of Ombudsman News.
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Financial Ombudsman Service appoints Deputy Chief Ombudsman and Chief Operating Officer
Following a recruitment process that attracted a high calibre of applications, the Financial Ombudsman Service has announced the appointments of James Dipple-Johnstone to the role of Deputy Chief Ombudsman and Karl Khan as Chief Operating Officer. James and Karl will take up their roles by 3 October. Read the full details in our news update.
Complaints that involve gambling-related harm
We recently attended a workshop alongside charities, consumer advisers and financial business representatives to discuss preventing gambling related debt. We spoke to attendees about the complaints we see and shared information about how we help to resolve them.
Our new online guidance for consumers and consumer advisers, and for financial businesses, sets out more about this, sharing detail on the types of complaint we receive and how we can help, as well as our approach to resolving complaints and case study examples.
Pre-paid funeral plan providers – an introduction to the Financial Ombudsman Service
From 29 July 2022, any businesses that sells and provides funeral plans must be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Customers who have a complaint about a pre-paid funeral plan or think they’ve been treated unfairly will be able make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Our latest blog highlights information for any plan providers new to regulation and to the Financial Ombudsman about the ways we support and engage with financial businesses.