The Financial Ombudsman Service is so overwhelmed by consumer complaints that many cases are now taking between 18 months and two years to be resolved. Guardian Money was contacted this week by a Somerset couple who have been waiting more than 18 months for an ombudsman to look at a complaint they made against LV= (Liverpool Victoria). Despite just £625 being involved and the considerable length of time they have already been waiting, we were told it would be at least a further four weeks before their case is looked at. The Duttons, from Staplegrove, near Taunton, are by no means alone. Thousands of other consumers who feel they have been unfairly treated by a financial company – many of whom who will be thousands of pounds out of pocket as a result – have been waiting years for their claims to be heard. Most would have had a speedier resolution at the small claims court.

The FOS, headed by Natalie Ceeney, says only those consumers who are deemed to be in financial hardship are pushed to the top of the queue, everyone else simply has to wait their turn.
Ironically the service was set up to provide a speedy and cheap way to resolve disputes between financial companies and their customers without having to go to court. Anyone who has reached deadlock in a dispute with a bank, insurance company, or similar, can apply to the FOS for independent arbitration. The finance firm involved is bound by the FOS findings and has to pay a £500 fee for every complaint to the FOS brought against it. It is free for the consumer.

In recent years the FOS has been swamped with cases.
In July last year we reported on the case a Sheffield reader who contacted us after they had been waiting 18 months for an ombudsman to adjudicate on their dispute with Barclays. At around the time several other readers wrote complaining of delays – one reported waiting three years. At the time the FOS blamed the problems on a record number of complaints about payment protection insurance (PPI). It said it was taking on 300 new claims handlers to....Read more on todays story----> Financial Ombudsman taking two years to resolve consumer complaints | Money | The Guardian