Will Financial Ombudsmans decision be appealed.

within29

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The FO has awarded a family member compensation because a policy was mis sold.

Just wondering how often are these decisions appealed & how do the courts view them.
 
They are very rarely appealed.

Usually they are appealed on a point of law, rather than a questioning of the Ombudsman's decision.

As far as I know, the Ombudsman's decision has never been reversed by the High Court.

If it is appealed, it will be a matter between the Financial Institution and the Ombudsman. You won't have any part in it.

Brendan
 
They are very rarely appealed.

If it is appealed, it will be a matter between the Financial Institution and the Ombudsman. You won't have any part in it.

Brendan

Dissagree, I had one that was appealed. On the first mention in the Court there was literally dozens of cases in for appeal by Financial Providers. The effected party is normally involved as a Notice Party, so your relation will have to use a Solicitor and a decent Barrister.
 
The effected party is normally involved as a Notice Party, so your relation will have to use a Solicitor and a decent Barrister.

But if they are not 'directly' involved in the case why would they need to hire a barrister? There are very few people that can afford the fees for the High Court in any case.
 
Hi mercman

From the [broken link removed]

Incidentally by 31 December 2008, only 0.2% of my findings - 8 by Financial Service providers and 16 by
complainants - have been appealed and out of 14 appeals closed at that date, only 2 judgments were
against me.

I would guess that the Financial Services providers would only challenge a case if it was for a very large amount of money or if it set a precedent.

I think that the cases against him were Davys and Quinn Direct, which were about points of law. This is inevitable given that the Ombudsman has to interpret a fairly new piece of legislation.

I was involved in one case where it was appealed and the Ombudsman informed me that the complainant had no role in the appeal. The financial institution did not make her a notice party, although I am aware of some complainants being made notice parties.

I think if my case was being appealed, I would show up in court anyway to hear how it was going. And I would give evidence if I was asked.

But I certainly would not hire a solicitor or barrister. The Ombudsman's legal team will be defending the appeal, not me.

The whole idea of the Ombudsman's service is that it is supposed to be a lawyer-free zone.

I have just found some High Court decisions [broken link removed], which are very interesting.
 
Sometimes it is more the regulatory value of the decision that is the desirable outcome rather than the actual value of the award.
 
Can't one only appeal to the High Court re FO awards? Cost of doing so effectively prevents appeals? Or is a more sensible avenue of appeal currently being considered?
 
Cost of doing so effectively prevents appeals? Or is a more sensible avenue of appeal currently being considered?

There will probably be a change in the law but when is the ultimate question. The strangest thing is that the Financial Ombudsman's bureau is funded by subscriptions from the Financial Providers.

I had a case with the Ombudsman that was Appealed by the FP. The HC Judge threw it out amd still settlement has not been made as per the Ombudsman's finding some seven months later.
 
The strangest thing is that the Financial Ombudsman's bureau is funded by subscriptions from the Financial Providers.
.

Hi mercman

You have raised this before on a number of occasions.

There is nothing strange about it. Would you prefer the taxpayer to fund it directly?

The Ombudsman's Council is appointed by the Minister for Finance. The financial institutions have nothing to do with it. From recollection, the legislation specifies that the majority must represent consumers.

The Ombudsman is appointed by the Council.

So the funders really have very little say. In some indvidual cases, the loser accuses the Ombudsman of bias. No balanced assessment would accuse him of bias. Inevitably, he has made some poor decisions, but he has got most of them about right. To the best of my knowledge, no decision has yet been overturned on the fairness of the decsion. However, most appeals have been about the interpretation of the law, rather than the substance of the decision.
 
To the best of my knowledge, no decision has yet been overturned on the fairness of the decsion. However, most appeals have been about the interpretation of the law, rather than the substance of the decision.

Yes agreed. But in the process of the legal system, the interpretation of the law can only be determined by the judiciary. This is why they source test cases which are frequently referred to.
 
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