fos
complaints ‘not about evasion’ - 10/10/2007
Complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) about
debt collection
agencies are not from consumers trying to avoid debts, according to the lead ombudsman for banking and credit.
Jane Hingston (pictured) told delegates at the Civil Court Users Association conference that the complaints were about people being chased for debts they’d already paid or being chased by five or six different organisations for the same debt.
"The focus is more on the arrangement between lenders and collections agencies and the information that passes between them, than consumers trying to evade debts," she said.
Delegates raised the issue of the £400 case fee a company must pay if a complaint is investigated against it.
Hingston said the fee is reflective of the costs involved in investigating. "We think it is damn good value. You’ve got two months to resolve the complaint and even if they do come to us you get two free cases a year. It’s the same cost to us no matter what the outcome of the case."
The industry had previously raised fears that aggrieved consumers with false complaints will go to the ombudsman, racking up lots of costs. However, CSA director Godfrey Lancashire said there haven’t been complaints from members that they are being unfairly treated so far.
Steve Meakin from the Institute of Money Advisers said this worry is unnecessary. "There doesn’t seem as yet to be a lot of frivolous and vexatious claims. If there were I’m sure the FOS would take a different view on fees in future. I would hate to see a good idea undermined by vexatious claiming," he said.
However, Stephen Sklaroff, Finance & Leasing Association director general, said his members are starting to get claims compensation that are just below the charge for a case if it goes through the FOS.