Fair and reasonable: an assessment of the Financial Ombudsman Service

Set up in 2001, the Financial Ombudsman Service brought together most of the existing financial services ombudsmen schemes. The Service helps settle individual disputes between consumers and financial firms and considers complaints about a wide range of financial matters - from insurance and mortgages to pensions and investments. As part of its commitment to the delivery of a high quality service, the Board of the Financial Ombudsman Service commissioned an assessment of the work of the organisation, looking principally at the output in terms of customer and firm interaction.

The overall aim was to assess the work of the Financial Ombudsman Service, looking principally at its output in terms of customer and firm interaction. Within this, the assessment had four main objectives:

• To examine the organisation's performance, as measured by its resolution of disputes and its handling of complaints.
• To describe, analytically, how disputes are handled and resolved by the Service.
• To assess the non-case handling activity related to external liaison and interaction with the Service's stakeholders.
• To provide a benchmark for use in future assessments.

The assessment comprised a series of interviews with senior members of staff, followed by interviews and focus groups with a range of staff drawn from different parts of the organisation. The research team also reviewed a number of actual cases. The assessment was completed in June 2004.

Fair and reasonable: an assessment of the Financial Ombudsman Service (PDF, 407kB)