about this issue

This month we look at a variety of banking complaints involving credit cards – where the point at issue is whether the cardholder can claim against the card issuer (under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act) when things have gone wrong with the goods or services paid for with the card.

We report on some recent insurance cases we have dealt with, including a dispute over a claim for the accidental death of a parrot. We also illustrate our approach to complaints where a legal expenses insurer has turned down a claim because it does not think the legal action proposed by the policyholder has any reasonable chance of success.

The importance of good record-keeping on the part of firms is highlighted in several of the investment-related cases we feature this month. And in our reply to one of the questions featured in ask ombudsman news, we explain to an adviser that he does not have the option of dismissing a client’s mortgage endowment complaint simply because he no longer has any records of the sale.