Whistleblower reveals financial ombudsman service in disarray

Can you trust the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to resolve your dispute with a bank or insurer? A whistleblower has told Guardian Money that a “disastrous” management reorganisation has left the service in disarray, with the public waiting as long as two years to get justice.

The whistleblower, a senior staff member at the FOS who wishes to remain anonymous, alleges that:
• Consumers sending complex complaints to FOS can wait 10 months before a file is even picked up and examined.
• The waiting time for pension disputes is seven months.
• Wronged consumers can wait up to two years until their claims are finally adjudicated.
• The number of unresolved general claims (non-PPI) that remain unresolved a year after being received now stands at 15,551.
• Managers expected case handlers to resolve 4.5 complaints a week, but the real figure is 1.7.

Source: The Guardian
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