Not the only country fed up with the FOS......had I known it would end up 2 years of wasted time to end up worse off financially even if I take that offer I would never have bothered...
http://www.fos-problems.co.uk/index.htm
FOS can sidestep English law.........
FOS Whistleblower
Disgusted consumers turn on complaints watchdog - Times Online
http://www.fos-problems.co.uk/index.htm
Financial ombudsman comes under fire as insider reveals litany of bad practices. Customers with grievances about their bank are being let down by a poorly trained and slapdash ombudsman, according to a whistleblower who used to work at the service. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), the independent body that settles disputes between banks and customers, lacks the expertise and resources to investigate complaints properly, the former employee alleges. Other critics, including independent financial advisers and lawyers, also accuse the ombudsman of bias in favour of the banks. The FOS handles 170,000 cases every year and is the last hope for desperate consumers battling with the financial services industry.
Jane Sanders worked as an adjudicator at the FOS between 2006 and 2008, on £22,000 a year, and was “absolutely disgusted” at how the service is run. She says: “If adjudicators don’t meet their targets, they don’t get their bonus, so, of course, cases are going to be rushed through. My target was to close 3.5 cases every week. “Adjudicators don’t have enough time to trawl through the individual circumstances of each case. Instead, generic template letters are used to speed up the process.” Ms Sanders adds that adjudicators receive little training apart from a one-day induction course and that many are ill equipped to handle complex cases.
The ombudsman says that it prefers to hear from consumers “in their own words”, without the help of an adviser. In contrast, banks have teams of trained staff to prepare a case and Mr Hall says that the adjudicators even appear “cosy” with bank staff. The service has 700 adjudicators, who investigate the majority of complaints. If a consumer is unhappy with an adjudicator’s decision, there are 40 ombudsmen who will review the case to reach a “final and binding” decision. If the consumer is still not happy, the only option is to take the bank to a small claims court, which can be expensive and time consuming. An FOS spokesman says that more than 50 per cent of adjudicators are law graduates, but admits that there are no minimum qualifications for the job. He adds: “It’s important that we deal with our workload professionally and efficiently. This means setting targets and keeping to them. “We resolve a third of cases within three months, but if consumers prefer a more detailed, and lengthy, investigation they are always able to ask for a full review and decision by an ombudsman.” .........read more http://www.fos-problems.co.uk/index.htm
Here is what FOS whistleblower and ex-adjudicator Jane Sanders says about FOS decisions. Also comments by Anthony Speight QC and Lord Neill........
http://www.financial-ombudsman-problems.co.uk/whistleblower.htm
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/when_the_fos_tells_lies
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/acceptance_of_settlement_followi_2
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/entitlement_to_viewhear_all_evid