FOS

Banks are forcing victims of payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling to take their claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), when they could resolve the disputes immediately.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has highlighted examples of bad protection advice from complaints referred to it during the recession.

Private medical insurance (PMI) complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) increased by 27% last year.

The number of unresolved complaints against IFAs referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) fell 1% last year, compared to a 2% rise in disputes against banks.

The FSA's immunity from civil action under conduct of business legislation is fuelling poor regulation and failure in the financial services industry, says an IFA support group.

In the run up to the election, there are changes on the horizon for regulating insurance, particularly in the area of consumer protection.

Complaints linked to property funds, deferral periods and market value reductions (MVRs) are on the increase, as investments disappoint in the wake of the crisis, says the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

Senior managers who fail to understand the inner workings of their own business will not get much respect from the new chief financial ombudsman.

Last week, the financial ombudsman (FOS) published, for only the second time, the number of complaints against authorised firms referred to its office.

The financial ombudsman (FOS) has hit back at criticism of its complaints statistics, saying the data was not designed for consumer use but to encourage firms to handle client grievances more efficiently.