Financial Ombudsman - How long should I realistically wait?

[Cerebra]

Hi All,

 

After a long and protracted fight with Black Horse about some mis-sold PPI I had to take the case to the Ombudsman.

 

They acknowledged it with a letter and reference no. This was back in December 2011. The letter stated that I should receive an update within 3 months but, knowing how many cases they are dealing with, I've left them, what I thought was, a decent amount of time.

 

I have just phoned them today to see how it is progressing only for them to turn round and say it'll be at least another 6 months and offer no word of an apology apart from the pre-recorded spiel whilst you're on hold.

 

Is this what other CAG-ers are experiencing and should I just shut up and put up or is this excessive? The money sure would be useful right now!

[ims21]

Sadly fos are very slow and it will be a waiting game though.

 

Having said that, if you are in financial hardship then tell them so and you might be able to speed the process up a little.

[BankFodder]

what is the basis of the misselling?

There are other more aggressive ways to go about it if the circumstances are right.

[Cerebra]

Thanks for the reply.

 

I had considered that but, whilst the money would be useful for paying off debts, we're getting by by being frugal and not buying unnecessary things.

 

Do you happen to know if the FOS would require proof of hardship or do they just take your word for it?

[Cerebra]

Hi BankFodder,

 

the basic details are the usual, i.e. not offered any other products, was pressure-sold it as it would 'enhance' my chances of being successful etc etc. However, a major factor was that I was only in part-time employment at the time, but was due to enter a full-time job within a month. I explained this and they took my word for it and sold me the loan and PPI.

 

The acknowledgement from Black Horse does not dispute this, rather they cite having reviewed the case and categorically stating that I was informed of my options of going elsewhere and not having to take the cover, however there is no transcript of any conversation that has been made available to me.

 

Is this grounds for 'pushing it through'?

[dx100uk]

typical rubbish from them then.

 

speculation that the correct process took place.

 

they were not there!

 

nice commission too to the rep

 

dx

[MARTIN3030]

In their latest issue of Ombudsman news they have said this :

 

Complaints about mis-sold PPI have dominated our workload this year. We’ve now received over 500,000 complaints about PPI – and are still getting over 1000 new PPI complaints referred to us each day. This has given us some major challenges.

We’ve had to find a way to deal with unprecedented numbers of enquiries without compromising on our standards. It’s widely known that we’ve had to pretty much double the number of our case handlers. But if you consider the scale of the problem – with about 35 million PPI policies estimated to have been sold and, so far just under 5 million or so complaints – you won’t be surprised to hear that we expect the clean-up operation will take time, and will need a lot of resource allocated to it.

It has to be done properly, and it will take time. We’re currently working on our plans for increasing our capacity yet again to deal with the current high volumes of cases. We’ll be putting these plans out for public consultation in January, as part of our annual budget discussions.

[Cerebra]

Hi Martin3030,

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I guess we just have to sit tight then. It's bloomin frustrating that yet again we are held ransom by banks that have forgotten what they were set up for in the first instance, and that without customers they don't have a business.

 

Black Horse have done everything possible to ensure that I didn't pursue the case but my belligerence has at least got me this far.

 

Best set a reminder for another 6 months time then...

[ims21]

While it is somewhat frustrating to wait for fos, the little bit of good news is that the 8% interest is mounting up and it is a better rate than you would get elsewhere.

[Cerebra]

There is, of course, that little nugget to bring a smile to my face on a cold Friday afternoon. (That and the fact that I finish work in just over 2 hours time...)

[MARTIN3030]

Yes I had some dealings with BH and know what you mean,but if you don your homework and some prep they are no more fallible than the rest.