from
the Financial Ombudsman Serviceessential reading for financial firms and consumer advisers
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welcome to credit unions We
are now able to deal with complaints about credit unions in Great
Britain (but not in Northern Ireland), as long as the complaints
concern events that took place from 2 July 2002.
The procedures and time limits in the Financial Services Authority’s complaint-handling rules apply to credit unions for the first time, and may represent some new challenges for them, since most credit unions are run by volunteers on a part-time basis. We have engaged in a helpful dialogue with credit union organisations to help ensure that we – and they – are ready for cases when they come through. We have attended two credit union conferences already, and run workshops. Another two credit union conferences are already in our diary. We have also trained up some specialist casehandlers and an ombudsman to deal with credit union cases. They are aware of the special characteristics of credit unions and their relationship with their members. They will not judge credit unions against standards of service inconsistent with what members can reasonably expect, having regard to the credit union’s resources and organisation. Credit unions will find lots of information in ombudsman news about how we operate. This website also contains much helpful material including, for example, a briefing about how we approach compensation for distress and inconvenience. And credit unions are always welcome to call our technical advice desk on 020 7964 1400 or email technical.advice@financial-ombudsman.org.uk. Consistency in the terms we use is very important, as credit unions will discover. Like the Financial Services Authority – when we refer to ‘firms’, that includes credit unions. And our documents and correspondence will refer to ‘customers’ rather than members, because we deal only with their customer rights, as depositors or borrowers – not their rights as members (such as issues relating to election of officials). We
are aware that some credit unions may initially see the new arrangements
as burdensome. But we hope they will soon come to recognise, as
others have already done, that they bring considerable advantages.
The existence of independent complaint-handling arrangements helps
underpin consumer confidence – and can bring finality to
disputes so they don’t continue to rumble on.
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