Financial Ombudsman : Bias & incompetence @ the F.O.S.?

[mikemm]

My widowed mother, aged 86,was invited to invest 90% of her life savings i.e. £50,380-00. in what transpired to be a precipice bond. For this investment, Bradford & Bingley B.S. (her I.F.A. as confirmed to my husband by the F.S.A. the under their regulations) were paid £1511-40 (3%) commission.

Twelve months afterwards, almost incoherent with distress, she telephoned me, asking for my husband & myself to go to her as she had received a letter she could not understand. We read the letter, a statement from the bond issuer (G.E.Life), which showed a loss of £16,873-00. on her investment.We were unable to alleviate her distress by way of a suitable explanation, as she had informed us at the time of investment, that she understood it to be with her building society of long standing B&B.

Within 7 weeks, she had suffered a massive stroke, & passed away

At the end of the three year term,as the sole beneficiery ,I received £ 13,394-73. a loss of £36,985-27.

My initial complaint to the FOS., was that as B&B. were undisputedly my mothers I.F.A. under the F.S.A. regulations, & having received the commission ,they had mis-sold the bond to my mother.The adjudicator rejected my complaint, stating categorically that B&B. HAD NOT received any commission, he also,

in his correspondence made incorrect & ubsubstantiated statements regarding my mothers personal & financial affairs, & in a telephone call, also accused my departed 86 year old mother of "co-habiting" (i.e. living together as husband wife) with a 91 year old male acquaintance. I can only assume that this missinformation was gained from B&B.

Despite me providing documented evidence as to the incorrectness of his information,I was told that no further comments were possible after the final decision.

After a lapse of time,(but within any statute of limitations),I was able to prove that B&B. had indeed received the commission, ( their excuse was that they were unaware of it at the time,this statement , from a company that had already been fined hundreds of thousands of pounds by the F.S.A for" poor record keeping ",beggars belief.)

After further corresponding with the service review manager at the FOS.,I was invited to make a NEW complaint.

The basis of my new complaint ,was that, B & B., as documented I.F.A. to my mother & having been proved to have been in receipt of the commission at the time of investment were "Guilty of negligence in their Duty of Care as I.F.A. to my mother in NOT GIVING advice at the time of the investment."

After a twenty week delay, I was informed that my complaint would be given priority and that an assessor

(not an Ombudsman!) would be in touch. After further delays ,my complaint was rejected with total obfuscation.

As was my right, I insisted on an adjudication by an ombudsman.Suprise, suprise, no mention of the

£1511-40.commission that the Ombudsman had previoulsy & strenuously denied B&B. had received & had used as a reason for not upholding my initial complaint, no, this time ,the reason given, was that B&B HAD NOT GIVEN ADVICE, the exact wording of my complaint , so, having confirmed in writing ,my complaint, she then stated she could not uphold my complaint! Have the lunatics finally taken over the asylum?

Any help or advice appreciated.

[AuntieP]

A bad experience, but you are not alone in experiencing bizarre decisions by the FOS.

Take a look at the case described in detail on this website www.financial-ombudsman-problems.co.uk

I am afraid the Ombudsman is always right, all 200,000 decisions made last year were correct. No Ombudsman can over-ride another and there is no appeals process. The Ombudsman is Judge, Jury and Executioner.

By offering you the chance to open a NEW case, the Service Review Manager avoided admitting errors in the first case. The Service Review Team has been closed down at FOS now and the Manager has been moved.

You have the right to take court action, but only if you do NOT ACCEPT the FOS decision.

The Independeent Assessor will not look at the merits of your case, and has little authority anyway but you could consider appealing to her if you feel the FOS "service standards" have been breached. However FOS dont have to do what she says even if she finds in your favour and she usually only awards a small cash sum in any case.

A Judicial Review is possible, but expensive and complex (few try this route) and it wont look at the merits of your case but only whether FOS has acted properly within its regulations.

Write to your MP complaining about the lack of an independent appeals process at FOS. If enough of us do this, it might eventually get somewhere.

You could try to get one of the press financial journalists interested. The Times sometimes runs articles critical of FOS

Sorry...but join the club !