FOS complaints 'splitting' may harm advisers - law firm

Carmen Reichman
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Lawyers are warning that advisers will suffer from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) practice of increasingly splitting complaints to achieve maximum rewards for consumers.

Law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) warned that the ombudsman has become more active at asking claimants to submit separate claims in high value cases that involve different investments but only one advice firm and portfolio. The current limit for single FOS compensation awards is £150,000. RPC said it was concerned about the FOS's apparently-small number of high value complaints, which further pointed at an increase in complaints splitting. In a submission to the high profile court case Clark vs In Focus Management, which earlier this month found FOS rulings were final, the...

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