MPs to hear from new Financial Ombudsman chief executive on complaints, case backlogs, and scam reimbursement
Witnesses’ views on the issue of customer backlogs are likely to be explored. The FOS has reduced the backlog from 90,000 cases in May 2021 to around 37,000 in March 2022. MPs may ask what steps the FOS can take to reduce this further, and examine risks that the backlog will increase due to the cost of living crisis.
Meeting details
The Committee will look at whether there has been any improvement in the time taken for the FOS to resolve complaints. Its Annual Report 2021/22 shows that only 20 per cent of cases were resolved within three months in 2021/22 compared to over half in 2019/20.
MPs are likely to use the session to hear the Chief Executive, Abby Thomas’ first impressions of the FOS since taking up the post, as well as Chair Baroness Manzoor’s thoughts on the implementation of the reforms envisaged in its 2021 action plan.
MPs are also likely to discuss proposals from the Payment Systems Regulator for mandatory reimbursement for victims of authorised push payment fraud. In its recent Scam reimbursement: pushing for a better solution report, the Committee criticised the slow implementation of mandatory reimbursement for fraud victims, and objected to proposals handing the refund process to an industry body.