The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is consulting on a new process to speed up the resolution of complaints.
It wants to introduce a new category for recording complaint outcomes where firms proactively settle a complaint to FOS with a fair offer before a detailed investigation is necessary.
This builds on the successful temporary initiative FOS previously brought in during the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to around 100 businesses making nearly 7,000 offers to resolve complaints more quickly.
FOS has heard from stakeholders that having this category for complaints provides an incentive to settle complaints more quickly. It is proposing to put this change into practice for the coming financial year and then consider the data, insight and feedback it receives in considering how it record outcomes in the longer term. It will also use the data to help inform decisions on its case fee structure for 2024-25.
The consultation will run for two weeks (closing 5pm Monday 20 March). Read the full consultation and find out about how you can respond on the FOS website.
