'FOS decisions should be based on law,' says City law firm

With the consultation on the proposed increased of Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) award limit to £350,000 in April - currently it is £150,000 - closing today (21 December), City law firm RPC has called for two key reforms.

To ensure a level playing field for financial services firms and consumers, FOS decisions should be based on what the law says rather than based on what the FOS considers ‘fair and reasonable', said RPC.

It also believes financial advisers should be able to appeal an FOS judgements to the courts; that judgement of disputes on the basis of established law and full disclosure of evidence would be preferable to the current system which takes the law into consideration but does not apply it rigorously.

"The FOS compensation process needs to walk the line of giving a fair deal to consumers and reasonable access to justice for the industry," said Rob Morris, partner at RPC.

"Many financial services firms feel that at the FOS the cards are already stacked against them. If the potential awards they face are to go up by such a dramatic percentage then there needs to be some counterweight to help financial services firms."

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• Topics
• Regulation
• Adviser / Broking
• Financial Ombudsman Service
• financial advisors
• FOS
• law firm
• Law & Crime
• RPC