Financial Ombudsman's bi-annual report

Brendan Burgess

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Executive Summary
 The Bi - Annual Review is a new approach employed by the Bureau to increase our ability to track and analyse the types of complaint received, products complained about and Findings issued. It is envisioned that it will lead to a more insightful, informative and useful analysis of complaints in the future.
 It is a Trend analysis of Complaints received for the 3rd & 4th Quarter 2010 and a comparative study of Complaints received in the 1st & 2nd Quarter and 3rd & 4th Quarter 2010.
 A further function of the Bi-Annual Review is found in Chapter 7 ‘Approach to Cases’. It is the aim of this chapter to give an insight into how this offices approaches cases and reaches a final determination in respect of Findings. It is hoped that such examples, will not only increase the transparency of how this office reaches its decisions but also lead to greater consistency in our Findings. It is also aimed towards improving consumers knowledge on financial products.
 The figures for the 1st & 2nd Quarter and 3rd &4th Quarter 2010 in the representative comparative tables 4-9, evidence that the type of product complained about and the complaint type have remained fairly consistent over the two periods.
 There has been no significant increase across the board. Although it is noted that Complaints regarding investments remain high at 849; Mortgage complaints increased by 101 in the 3rd & 4th Quarters. Household complaints, given the adverse weather experienced in the early part of this year and the previous year’s floods have increased from 332 in 2009 to 639 for the 2010.
 In relation to Findings issued the number of cases Upheld/ Not Upheld has remained stable. In the 3rd Quarter of 2010, this office began to record in its database an additional Finding Category; Partly Upheld. This is where a complaint is upheld but only in part (as provided for in the applicable legislation).
 It is of note that in February and March of 2011 this office has seen a significant rise in the number of Complaints received. In March 2011 this office received 768 complaints; the most complaints received since the establishment of this office in April 2005. The increase is seen across all product types.
 
Here are extracts from the [broken link removed]

  • 3,599 complaints were received in the last 6 months of the year (compared to 3631 received in the first 6 months of the year);
  • A 40% increase in mortgage-related complaints;
  • Complaints about investment and insurance products remain at record levels;
…Complaints received in the first quarter of this year reveal an increase in dissatisfaction levels by Consumers with the performance of Financial Institutions. The Office received more complaints in February 2011 than in any month in 2010. Futhermore, the Office received more complaints in March 2011 than in any month since its establishment.
In publishing his Office's latest statistics the Ombudsman states that:
"The large increase in complaints in certain areas reflects the immense difficulties facing consumers and the Financial Industry as a whole. This Office continues to receive large volumes of complaints but the continued increase in mortgage and investment complaints is of concern.
…Of even greater concern is the substantial increase in the number of complaints received by the Office in 2011.
Here are the actual figures for the total number of complaints over the last three years. I did have to a bit of addition of figures from different reports.

2008|5952
2009|7619
2010|7230
Here is how this decrease of 5% is reported
Irish Times: [broken link removed]

RTE: Financial Complaints hit record high in March

Irish Independent:

Business & Leadership Complaints to financial Ombudsman hit record high
 
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