Ombudsman Expect Large Rise In Number Of Complaints
Due to the effects of the credit crunch, the banking crisis and the recent recession, many people in the UK are struggling with their financial situation in the current economic climate.
In this situation, many individuals look for someone to blame for their problems, whether it is a loan company or bank for allowing them to borrow more than they can realistically afford to repay each month on a personal loan, or home owner loan, or an insurance company who perhaps mis sold a Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) policy. If a consumer is unable to achieve a satisfactory result from their loan provider or insurance company, they are entitled to take their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), who will investigate it on their behalf and make an impartial judgement.
Due to the current backdrop of economic and financial turmoil, the Financial Ombudsman service is expecting to see a dramatic rise in the number of complaints it receives over the course of the coming twelve months.
In the current financial year, the FOS has estimated that it will handle somewhere in the region of 165,000 complaints from consumers regarding financial services products. However, it is anticipating that this figure is likely to rise throughout the course of the financial year 2010/2011 to around 210,000 as more and more people complain about the mis selling of loans, payment protection policies and other financial products.
This projected increase in complaints represents an additional work load of around 27 per cent for the FOS and as a result of this, they are taking on an additional 300 staff to deal with consumer complaints. The figures for the current year already show an increase of 11 per cent above the previous year and the main reason for a complaint is due to the mis selling of a PPI plan in connection with a new personal loan or home owner loan.
