Is this normal?

[MrHandyman]

I filed a complaint for refund of charges and payment protection insurance against MBNA through the Financial Ombudsman service about 3 or 4 weeks ago. I received a letter from the customer advocate office saying I would have a decision by sept 11th. It never came but I've received a letter saying they will now have a decision by 9th october, as investigations are taking longer than anticipated.

 

This letter came from Gail Powell, the Vice President.

 

Should I accept this, or escalate my complaint with the ombudsman because they never responded in their own timeframe?

[manxcat2206]

Legally under regulatory guidelines, they're allowed 4 weeks to respond to a complaint, with an extension for a further 4 weeks provided they let you know before the first 4 weeks expires.

 

Sounds like they're going to take the maximum allowable time, but they are allowed to do this. Frustrating, I know, but sometimes investigations do take longer than expected hence the guidelines. We all know that they shouldn't need this long to sort out charges and PPI, but I reckon they'll take as long as they can. However, if you've claimed interest on the charges and PPI, the longer they take the more they'll have to pay.

[MrHandyman]

again, it has now came to the 9th of october and i've received a letter saying they are still investigating and will take until the 22nd of october, which i'm sure takes them over the 8 weeks they are allowed. Should I advise the ombudsman or just give them the time they want?

[manxcat2206]

This is where it gets tricky. Guidelines state that they should be able to resolve within 8 weeks. However, many companies that cannot resolve within this time will send a further holding letter stating that they need longer.

 

The Ombudsman guidelines are that you should wait until you have a response from the company and are at a deadlock before you contact them.

 

However, if you think they are simply stalling for time and aren't going to reply, you could complain to the Ombudsman explaining that you've already waited over 8 weeks for a reply and that you don't think that there is any hope of a reply appearing any time soon given that it should have been a straightforward complaint to resolve.

 

If the Ombudsman accepts the complaint on this basis, then they will contact MBNA themselves asking for their side of the story. This may at least mean that MBNA are forced to provide a reply.

 

If you can wait until the 22nd, and you think they will actually answer then, it might be quicker to wait until then as I would think it would take the Ombudsman longer than this to get this underway. In the meantime, you might want to send them a letter stating that the complaint should have been easy to resolve; that you will wait until the 22nd but that if they then try to extend the time again, you will go direct to the Ombudsman as it appears that they are just stalling in providing a response.