How long does the Ombudsman take?

Brendan Burgess

Founder
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54,060
This is what the Ombudsman told a complainant recently where the exchange of submissions had just completed.

We can confirm that this complaint has now completed the investigation stage and is
progressing to adjudication.

However, it is important that you are aware that due to the volume of files awaiting
adjudication, there is a wait time for assignment of the file to an officer to draft a
Preliminary Decision. In addition, please note that the adjudication of the complaint
can take a significant period. This is because the formal adjudication process involves
a detailed scrutiny of the parties’ evidence, together with an assessment of the detail
of their written submissions, against the background of the legislative and/or
regulatory requirements for the particular service provision.

Owing to the volume of complaints requiring formal adjudication, this Office has been
experiencing delays, which have contributed to a longer wait time for adjudication,
than we would wish. By way of example:
• For files that were waiting, and then commenced the adjudication process
during Quarter 2 of 2024 (April, May and June of 2024) those files had been
waiting an average of 9.5 months, for that adjudication work to begin.
• For other files where a Preliminary Decision was issued to the parties during
Quarter 2 of 2024, the average period for that adjudication work, was 13.5
months.
 
Complaint submitted.
Stage 1 - Mediation takes months, and where it ends in failure
Stage 2 - Ombudsman writes to bank with a series of questions - takes more months
Stage 3 - Bank takes months to reply - after seeking multiple extensions of time
Stage 4 - Customer responds , bank responds to customer's response, customer responds ... takes more months
Stage 5 - Appointment of an Adjudicator
Stage 6 - Adjudication and issuing of preliminary decision

So it appears that he will be waiting 9.5 months for the adjudication process to begin!
The process itself will take months.
And, in many cases, the adjudicator who seems to be a different person from the investigator, may ask further questions of the bank, which, in effect, brings us back to Stage 2.
 
I have a tracker mortgage complaint with the FSOP which is supposed to be in the adjudication stage since 2020 with no end in sight, I check in each year but to no avail....I'm utterly despondent at this stage.
 
deanne said:
I have a tracker mortgage complaint with the FSOP which is supposed to be in the adjudication stage since 2020 with no end in sight, I check in each year but to no avail....I'm utterly despondent at this stage.
Click to expand...

I was surprised at the Ombudsman's average time periods as most of the reports I had heard of were for years and not months.

But maybe the trackers are taking a lot longer than the "simpler" ones where someone complained because the ATM was out of action and they couldn't buy a drink.
 
It takes 10 years from the likes of the Moriarty Tribunal revealing the bleeding obvious before a file is prepared for the DPP. The wheels of justice grind slowly.
 
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