|
introduction
|
| 9.1
|
This
is the first year that the Financial Ombudsman Service will be collecting
the levy directly from firms. As agreed during the consultation
on the fee raising rules, 50% of the costs will be raised by a levy
on firms and 50% by case fees. The total budget is therefore divided
into two amounts of £14.1m.
|
| |
|
| general
levy |
| 9.2 |
The
tariff rates in appendix A are for information only. They are presently
part of a FSA consultation document (CP119) and any comments should
be sent to the FSA by 21 February 2002.
|
| 9.3
|
Financial
services firms are grouped in a total of 15 different industry blocks,
based on provisional data provided by the FSA. The levy has been
apportioned across these blocks, according to the number of case-handling
staff assigned to deal with cases that fall in each relevant block.
During the consultation period we intend continually to refine our
fee data which may give rise to a change, perhaps materially, in
the tariff rates.
|
| 9.4
|
As
mentioned in the policy document, Dispute Resolution: the Complaints
Sourcebook, we intend to send out estimated invoices in March/April
2002, based on the above tariff, which we will revise in the autumn
to take account of the tariff data received from the FSA.
|
| 9.5
|
In
addition to the annual budget of £28.2m, we intend to recover
one third of our £4.9m establishment costs. Establishment costs
will be collected from firms over a three-year period until 2004/05
(£1.63m per annum) and will be charged in proportion to the
general levy. These rates are also subject to consultation in CP119
as above. |
|
|
| case
fee |
| 9.6
|
The
case fee will be the total to be raised divided by the number of expected
case closures. Our current estimate is £360 (see appendix B),
made up of £344 (50% of the unit cost) plus £10 for interest
and £6 to cover contingencies such as bad debts. |
| 9.7
|
We
have also provided details of our proposed tariff rates for the Voluntary
Jurisdiction (appendix C). Where there is a direct comparison, such
as in the banking and loans block or general insurance, we will use
the same rate as for the Compulsory Jurisdiction. In other cases we
will use an appropriate factor. The Voluntary Jurisdiction blocks
are at present limited to: firms that were members of a predecessor
scheme on 30 November 2001, but which are not regulated by the FSA
for events from 1 December 2001 onwards (the activities covered are
the same as those covered by the predecessor schemes); mortgage lenders
that are not currently regulated by the FSA for complaints about events
before or after 1 December 2001 (but limited to lending money secured
by a charge on land, plus any ancillary advice and services); and
certain non-UK financial services companies based in the EEA but trading
in the UK. |
| |
|
| conclusion |
| 9.8 |
The
methodology for charging our levy and case fees has been the subject
of thorough consultation. However, we are committed to consulting
each year on the method of determining the tariff, the tariff rates
and our
case fee. |
