FOS complaints handling rules may be extended

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) may soon be given more freedom when it comes to dismissing complaints, it has been revealed. A consultation paper published by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has proposed that the grounds on which the FOS may dismiss a complaint, without first considering its merits, should be extended. The paper suggested that the FOS should, in the future, stop considering a case in the following two circumstances. The first is when a firm has reviewed the matter, in line with a formal regulatory requirement from the FSA, and offered to pay any required redr...