The power to settle financial complaints.
The power to settle financial complaints.
This section answers a number of frequently-asked questions (FAQs) about:
why should I pay a case fee if a consumer complains about me to the ombudsman – and loses?
Our rules (set out in the FSA's Handbook) say that if we consider a complaint against a business, the case becomes chargeable whatever the outcome.
In fact, only around 1% of businesses we cover actually pay case fees. For businesses that have four or more complaints a year referred to the ombudsman service, the cost involved – £500 per case, after the third complaint – is likely to be much less than the legal costs that might otherwise be involved in defending a complaint in court, where the publicity could be far more damaging to the business's bottom line.
For more details, see our special factsheet: