§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
What percentage of claims received by the Financial Ombudsman Service for each year since its inception have been resolved in favour of the consumer; and what percentage in favour of the finance firm. [HL1174]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe Financial Ombudsman Service's annual report for the year ending 31st March 2004 provides the following information:
Year ending 31 March 2004 number of cases Year ending 31 March 2003 number of cases Year ending 31 March 2002 number of cases Resolved at assessment stage1 32,136 (42 Per cent) 22,321 (40 Per cent) 17,637 (45 Per cent) Resolved after investigation 38,263 (50 per cent) of which, approximately 35 per cent were upheld in the consumer's favour (either wholly or in Part) 27,857 (49 per cent) of which, approximately 31 per cent were upheld in the consumer's favour (either wholly or in Part) 15,678 (40 per cent) of which, approximately 33 per cent were upheld in the consumer's favour (either wholly or in Part) Resolved by the final decision of an ombudsman 6,305 (8 per cent) of which, approximately 45 per cent were upheld in the consumer's favour (either wholly or in part) 6,290 (11 per cent) of which, approximately 50 per cent were upheld in the consumer's favour (either wholly or in Part) Consumer's favour (either wholly or in Part) 5,879 (15 per cent)of which, approximately 44 per cent were upheld in the consumer's favour (either wholly or in part) Total cases resolved 76,704 56,459 39,194 1 Generally involving mediation and conciliation. The outcomes of cases resolved after investigation or by final decision of an ombudsman and summarised in the following table:
Total Number of cases resolved after investigation or final decision by ombudsman Number and percentage in favour of consumers Number and percentage in favour of financial services firm Year ending 16,229 25,217 31 March 2004 44,568 (43 per cent) (57 per cent) Year ending 11,781 22,366 31 March 2003 34,147 (35 per cent) (65 per cent) Year ending 7,761 13,796 31 March 2002 21,557 (36 per cent) (64 per cent)
§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
How the Financial Ombudsman Service is funded; and how it is monitored. [HL1175]
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§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe Financial Ombudsman Service is funded by a combination of annual levies and case-fees. A general levy is payable by firms covered by the ombudsman service and the case fee is paid by firms in respect of each chargeable case the ombudsman service handles against them. In the year 2004–05, the ombudsman service introduced the policy of only charging firms a case fee for the third and any subsequent chargeable case handled by the service.
Each year, the ombudsman service consults on the case-fee to levy ratio; for 2004–05, the ratio split is 70:30 (the majority of the ombudsman service's funding is, therefore, recovered by the "user pays" case-fee element). The case-fee for 2004–05 is £360. The ombudsman service reports to a board of non-executive, public interest directors, who are appointed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The chairman of the board is appointed by the FSA with the approval of HM Treasury.
§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Financial Ombudsman Service offers a bonus for adjudicators who close their cases within a time frame; and, if so, how much is the bonus. [HL1176]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe Financial Ombudsman Service is an independent body. The staff employed by it are not civil servants, and the arrangements for managing and paying their staff are matters for the Financial Ombudsman Service and its board, which can be contacted at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London El4 9SR orwww.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.