Business as usual? How the landmark FOS compensation ruling affects advisers

What does the landmark court case tell us about the Ombudsman?

Carmen Reichman
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The courts have ruled FOS decisions are final - meaning claimants cannot then take their cases to the courts. But what are the consequences for financial advisers?

Last month, when the Court of Appeal decided to reverse an earlier judgement and made Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) decisions final, the advice industry collectively sighed with relief. After all, the FOS has an awards ceiling of £150,000, meaning if clients want to take advantage of the free and quick service, they cannot be awarded more than that amount – and that's final. Most industry figures are hoping the decision represents little more than a return to the status quo, the way compensation was dealt with before December 2012, when a judge first decided an FOS award could be ...

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