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It has been a busy year for the Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO), Bill Prasifka, who recently issued his final bi-annual review for 2011.
The FSO reported that the number of complaints to his office levelled off in 2011 but nonetheless remains high. The wait period for investigation of complaints is now 8 - 10 weeks at the end of the year. Less complaints were upheld in 2011 by the FSO than during the previous period, although insurance remains the area where the greatest number of complaints are both generated and upheld. While the investment sector was subject to less complaints than insurance or banking, the largest amount of compensation awarded by the FSO was in this sector.
Since July 2011, the FSO has been engaged in a public consultation on a proposal to name and shame individual financial institutions with the aim of incentivising improvements in customer services and complaints handling. Submissions have been received from a range of bodies that generally support the proposal. The Minister for Finance recently indicated that the Government intended to introduce legislation to implement this proposal.
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