Complaining to the Financial Ombudsman Service

[reallymadwoman]

Having now had some experience of the process I thought I'd put that to good use with my next round of complaints and also share my thoughts for anyone else who needs some guidance.

First the complaint form. The only bits that should need some thought are

page 2 - please tell us what your complaint is about - see next post

page 3 - what do you want the business you're complaining about to do - see post no 3

page 3 - please give us any other details - see post no 4

Supporting documents - see post no 5

Covering letter - see post 27

Please read the disclaimer in my signature before following any suggestions. All of this is based on my own experience of what works - I have no specialist knowledge. Feel free to suggest additions/alterations/corrections as necessary.

Having finished (I think!) I thought a few more comments right at the beginning would be appropriate. I've written this from the point of view of complaining about a DCA, whether in house or not, but I'm sure it could be adapted to most situations and all the general suggestions will apply regardless.

I would suggest reading right to the end first off, then going through post by post as each stage is reached. That way no one is going to miss the important bit in post 11 about asking for a cheque, not a credit to the account.

Posts are now being amended to allow for the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, 2008. So far as I know, they will only apply to complaints and/or DCA behaviour after they came into force on 26th May 2008.

[reallymadwoman]

page 2 - please tell us what your complaint is about.

My tactics are to leave this bit until I've written my complaint in full on a separate sheet. To do this I use the OFT Debt Collection Guidance (link here http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/bus...dit/oft664.pdf) as a starting point. I go through the guidance item by item, highlighting those that the DCA have breached, not forgetting the more general guidance at the beginning under 'Introduction' regarding responsibility for using agents that comply, no discrimination etc., then note evidence for that particular breach

e.g. 2.1 Communicating in an unclear, inaccurate or misleading manner, e.g.

b. leaving out or presenting information in such a way that it creates a false or misleading impression or exploits debtors' lack of knowledge

On xx/xx/08 the DCA sent a letter which implied that they could immediately apply for a charging order on my property although they have not yet obtained a County Court Judgement.

After I've been through the OFT guidance, I add any other breaches/complaints, again with the evidence e.g. enforcement action whilst a S77-79 request is outstanding, breaches of the Data Protection Act, Malicious Communications Act (telephone harassment), Protection from Harassment Act and/or Administration of Justice Act (harassment in general) and not forgetting failing to supply a copy of their complaints procedure, failing to acknowledge a complaint promptly (normally within 5 working days) or failing to issue a final response or explain a delay within 8 weeks. Also now the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, 2008.

At the end of this lengthy (but you get quicker with practice!) process it's time to summarise your complaints for the form, e.g.

1. Breaches of the OFT Guidance on Debt Collection
2. Attempting to enforce an agreement when in default of a request under S77-79 of the CCA 1974
3. Harassment as defined in the Protection from Harassment Act
4. Failing to supply a copy of the complaints procedure upon request ...
5. Breaches of the CPUTR 2008

See attached sheet for full details.

It's really important to give as much detail as you can as early as possible if you have the evidence to back it up. If friends/family etc have witnessed e.g. phone calls, get them to write a statement in support. Expect the DCA to have 'lost' all their records so tip the balance in your favour. After all, it wouldn't in their own interests for them to own up.

[reallymadwoman]

page 3 - What do you want the business you're complaining about to do, to put things right for you?

This is a very small box, so chances are you're only comment will be

Please see attached sheet

What you put on the attached sheet is going to be very dependant on individual circumstances, but as a general guide you could include

1. Any actual costs e.g. postage, phone calls, travel costs to get advice from CAB, cost of changing your phone number etc., but keep it reasonable. You want the Ombudsman on your side so claiming £50 an hour for your time is not going to help.

2. Compensation for inconvenience, distress, harassment, discrimination, embarrassment etc ...

3. An apology. Always worth asking for.

4. Anything else appropriate. The FOS are actually quite limited in what they can do. They can't, for example, fine a company or force them to comply with anything. However if asking for an undertaking to cease harassment is appropriate, ask away. Whether it would be worth the paper it's written on is a different matter.

The link in this post (despite the title) might give some guidance. http://www.consumeractiongroup.c o.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/136654-complaining-financial-ombudsman-service-3.html#post1545203

[reallymadwoman]

page 3 - please give us any other details that you think will help us understand your complaint.

A very important and often overlooked section of the form. This is your opportunity to demonstrate just how reasonable you have been and just how unreasonable the DCA has been.

Once again 'see attached sheet' is appropriate if you've got a lot to say, but it might be a good idea to number all these extra sheets.

The sort of information you might give here could be some background e.g. In 200X I became ill and unable to work and as a result could not meet my financial commitments. X, Y and Z bank all accepted the financial statement prepared by me/sent by CAB, however this bank did not and kept phoning/send letters to try to get me to increase payments. I responded to all their communications (good time to mention the list of enclosed supporting documents) but they just sent out more and more threatograms .... etc
You also need to include a statement of the effect on you, e.g. solely as a result of the harassment I have had to change my telephone number resulting in considerable inconvenience for myself and my family. My medical condition is adversely affected by stress etc. If you think it's relevant, mention it. It will save having to write it all down later.

[reallymadwoman]

Supporting documents.

This is also very important. If you don't send them, the FOS can't start dealing with your complaint.

1. The final decision from the company you are complaining about. If you haven't had one, put in big, bold letters in your covering letter - oops! I haven't really mentioned this much. Will post mine as soon as it's done though.

'DCA have not responded to my complaint, and 8 weeks have now passed'

This is not a criticism of the FOS, but the first thing they look for is the final decision, and if it's not there they will immediately write and ask for it.

2. Obviously any separate sheets you have written detailing your complaint.

3. A list of everything you are including, starting with all correspondence between you and the DCA, in date order and including your log of telephone calls, supporting statements from family, medical evidence and anything else you've mentioned.

4. Just in case it isn't entirely obvious, everything you've put on your list!

I have read that you can submit the claim form (this must be by post as it has to be signed) then submit all the documents electronically when you've been given a reference number, but I have no personal experience of this. If your file is very thick though, it's probably worth asking.

I'm having a break now, but I'll be back eventually with the next steps.

[Newborn]

Excellent work!

Newborn

[reallymadwoman]

OK, so you’ve prepared all your paperwork and sent your complaint off, so what happens next?

If you’re expecting an offer of everything you’ve asked for in a matter of days, be prepared for disappointment. Sending in the claim form is only the first step in an often lengthy process. According to the FOS website the majority of complaints are dealt with within 6-9 months. My last complaint took 13 months and the one before that 10 months, but the one before that was only 4 months. It really depends how busy they are and with the endowment complaints and bank charges complaints and now PPI complaints, they are busy!

However the FOS, unlike DCAs, are very good at acknowledging everything so you should have a letter giving you a reference number fairly quickly. This is useful because although you tried to cover absolutely everything with the first batch of paperwork, there’s bound to either be something you’ve missed or the DCA do something else you don’t like in the meantime, and there’s no time like the present for letting the FOS know about it.

At some point your complaint will be allocated to an adjudicator who may ask you for more information and will contact the DCA for their version of events. I suspect that how quickly things move at this stage is as much to do with how quickly the DCA reply as how busy the FOS are. After all, if they never reply to your letters why should they reply to the FOS?

Eventually the adjudicator will write to you with an outline of what he/she understands you are complaining about, what the DCA have said about it, and an opinion on the merits of the complaint. In an ideal world all your complaints would be upheld and the FOS would be recommending settlement of everything you asked for. More likely, and this has happened to me, as soon as the DCA realise you are serious they will write to you direct with an offer of sorts and, having seen that offer, the adjudicator will recommend that you accept it.

Of course whatever is or is not offered, you have the option to accept or decline. If you’re happy, accept. If not, don’t. Be aware though that there’s no guarantee that you will be offered more later.


See the link in this post for some guidance http://www.consumeractiongroup.c o.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/136654-complaining-financial-ombudsman-service-3.html#post1545203

[reallymadwoman]

The rest of this guidance assumes that you believe you have at least a reasonable chance of your complaint being upheld. If you don't you're probably wasting your own time as well as the time of the FOS in taking things any further.

So what if you don’t accept what the adjudicator says. Well, this is where all that hard work at the beginning really pays off. I would suggest that you go through the adjudicator’s letter paragraph by paragraph, or even sentence by sentence if necessary, using the following format.

• what information is wrong
• what the correct information is
• what evidence you have

For example:-

The DCA say that they send all correspondence via first class post, and therefore delays are not their responsibility. However in my experience their letters always arrive 5 to 7 days after they are dated. Please see letters dated xx/xx/xx etc and envelopes, which you will note confirm firstly that the letters were received 5 days after they were dated and secondly were sent by second class post. Royal Mail recomend allowing three days for second class post, therefore the delay in receipt of mail from this company is quite inexplicable had it really been posted first class.

As a matter of course I always write ‘rec’d xx/xx/xx’ on every letter as soon as I open it, even if it’s arrived straight away, and I keep the envelopes, especially the bright orange ‘telemessage’ ones. Such a lovely colour!

It’s also a good idea to include a paragraph or two at the end of your letter where you stray from the facts into more personal stuff, reinforcing the ‘other details’ bit from post 4. If it’s worth saying once, it’s worth repeating. It does no harm at all to make it clear, without using any naughty words, exactly what you think of the DCA’s tactics.

When you’ve done all that and tidied up your grammar and spelling, pop it in the post box or email it (not forgetting to quote your reference) and sit back and wait. Again.

[reallymadwoman]

Next. The adjudicator gets your letter and considers what you have to say. Again he/she may or may not ask for further information from either you or the DCA and will probably pass your letter to them for comments. If you had an offer the first time around, you will probably eventually get a better one.

The same comments apply about whether you accept or not. The biggest difficulty might be where they offer what you were asking for e.g. for postage etc, but you’re not sure if what they’re offering for ‘inconvenience’ or ‘harassment’ is reasonable. My approach was to do some research on the case law database (link here http://www.bailii.org/ ) where you can search on keywords, but don’t expect that just because Mrs A got £5000 for discrimination, that is what you should get. Damages are notoriously difficult to assess and the FOS does not work to the same rules as the courts. As a general guide, awards by the FOS will be lower. If in doubt, post on the forum and ask for opinions, but the final decision is yours.

See the link in this post for some guidance http://www.consumeractiongroup.c o.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/136654-complaining-financial-ombudsman-service-3.html#post1545203

If you’re still not happy and are willing to take the chance that you might not get more and could even end up with less, then refuse the offer. If necessary follow the procedure in post 8 again to respond to the adjudicator, not forgetting the less factual stuff at the end. If you don’t think the compensation offer is high enough, don’t be afraid to quote cases to support your view.

[reallymadwoman]

At this point the adjudicator will once again consider your comments, send a copy to the DCA for their comments and then write to you with yet another summary of what he/she believes the complaint is about. You will be invited to submit any further comments you have, and you absolutely must correct anything the adjudicator has got wrong or missed out. The file will then be passed to an Ombudsman for a decision, and you’ve reached the final stage of the process.

Once again the Ombudsman may or may not ask for further information from you or the DCA, but relatively quickly after this you will get a provisional decision. This will set out the Ombudsman’s understanding of the complaint and any background information, and will give an opinion on the merits of the complaint and what the company should do to put things right. (Of course the complaint will be upheld – you wouldn’t have gone this far otherwise). Both you and the DCA will be given a time limit to submit any further comments (if you’ve done the job properly earlier, there shouldn’t be any need) after which the Ombudsman will issue a final decision.

This decision is binding on the DCA and on you if you accept it. However if you don’t accept the only option left is court, so if you plan to decline, it might be wise to get some professional advice first.

[reallymadwoman]

So is that the end? You would hope so, but assuming you were awarded something in the way of expenses or compensation, there’s still the cheque. You would think that having the Ombudsman uphold a complaint and award compensation would encourage any company to pay up as quickly as possible. Not necessarily so. If you have any doubt about whether the company will pay up, ask the Ombudsman to set a deadline. In fact do it anyway, just to be on the safe side.

A cautionary tale. Long, long ago in the dark pre-CAG days when I was going through my first FOS complaint (upheld) I unwisely accepted as settlement a credit to the outstanding account. Easier than having to worry about waiting for a cheque, you might think, and at least it will pay a chunk off the balance. Wrong. It took a certain large bank 8 months to get around to crediting the account, by which time we were already in the midst of complaint 3. You can be sure I didn’t make that mistake again. After all, why should anyone profit from their own misdemeanours (I love that phrase) and at the same time be unfair to other creditors. Give me the cheque and I’ll decide who gets how much, thank you.

[Mrs_Ryan]

thank you so much RMW!!

Im in the middle of an FOS complaint against 1st Credit and to be honest hadnt thought of asking for damages. However, given the very distressing nature of my case, I will reconsider. Will be sure to ask for help when needed!

[reallymadwoman]

I'll certainly help if I can although the FOS are not keen on you adding to your original complaint once it's been submitted unless e.g. harassment has continued or the DCA have done something horrible in the meantime.