information for businesses covered by the ombudsman service
This section answers a number of frequently-asked questions (FAQs) about:
our funding
paying if no complaints
why should my business pay anything if no complaints are made about us?
Even if none of the consumers you deal with have ever used the ombudsman service, they still have the reassurance of knowing they could bring a complaint to us if necessary.
An ombudsman scheme doesn't exist just for the small proportion of consumers who actually make complaints. All businesses – whether or not they have any complaints referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service – benefit from the increased consumer confidence that the existence of an ombudsman service provides. And the ombudsman service's funding covers much more than closing cases. We carry out a lot of complaints prevention work aimed at helping prevent problems from turning into full-blown disputes. For example, we operate a technical advice desk, and we publish a regular newsletter ombudsman news and an extensive series of factsheets for consumers and guides for businesses.