Complaints data to be released
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is to release business-specific complaint data on individual businesses every six months, starting from autumn 2009. The service, releasing the data as part of its transparency agenda, will list the numbers of new cases and the percentage of closed cases where there has been a change of outcome in favour of the consumer.
The data will be released from those firms with at least 30 new cases and 30 closed cases during the six-month period. The FOS will provide a breakdown of the data according to the five product groups that the FSA intends to use for complaints reporting from August 2009.
Charlie MacEwan, head of communications at PMI provider WPA commented: "Naming and shaming is fine in principle but it raises serious issues. One is the problem of finding comparable data, another is assessing a company's complaints for versus those against - how many of the total reach the ombudsman?
"Sometimes it seems to me there is a conspiracy to hide information that will allow customers to make a sensible decision in an important matter."
While the context of the data has yet to be decided, the ombudsman said in a policy report: "We plan to publish the complaints data whether or not stakeholders have agreed how it could be contextualised."
According to payment protection insurance (PPI) lobbyist Sara-Ann Burgess, managing director of Burgesses, by the end of its financial year next week, FOS will have received 30,000 PPI complaints from consumers unable to get their mis-selling charges resolved.
Burgess said: "At least 90% of PPI complaints, and in the case of one lender, 100% of complaints, are upheld by the Ombudsman."
Accusing the providers of delaying tactics, she added: "The real figure of those who have been mis-sold PPI could be far higher. Widespread consumer detriment cannot be allowed to continue - the regulator needs to name and shame the perpetrators and ensure they clean up their act."
