Posted on 31 May 2010
NEW Financial Ombudsman Boss Wants Faster PPI Claims Process
Ombudsmen, like policemen, seem to be getting younger these days. Two months ago, Natalie Ceeney took up the role of the nation’s chief financial ombudsman, stepping into the well-worn, outsized shoes of Walter Merricks – who had held this role since the service was started 10 years ago.
Unlike him, she does not have a legal background and has never previously worked in financial services. But, with the breezy confidence exhibited by many former management consultants, she insists that this isn’t necessarily a disadvantage.
A quick glance at her CV shows that despite still being under 40 she has held a number of senior posts, from heading up the National Archives, to the director of operations at the British Library. So how is she hoping that these roles will help her, when it comes to adjudicating on complex critical illness insurance claims or whether someone was mis-sold a payment protection plan?
She says that as chief executive, as well as chief ombudsman, her role is largely to influence policy and shape the structure of this organisation.
“It doesn’t matter whether you are running a library, a hospital or the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). What people who use that service want is excellent service levels and that’s something I’ve always prided myself on improving.”
She points out that it isn’t her job to personally rake through every complaint received by the FOS, although some people who use the service seem to assume this is the case. “In the last 10 years my predecessor only personally adjudicated on three separate cases.”
But while most decisions will lie with the “expert team of ombudsmen” – each of whom focus on specific product areas – she says that as the chief ombudsman she will be involved in the contentious and “big decisions”.
Last week the ombudsman published its annual report, and the figures show that the volume of cases dealt with continue to soar. It ruled on about 166,000 cases – a 46pc increase on the year before. In total, the FOS receives almost one million inquiries.
Not surprising, the largest bone of contention at present is payment protection insurance, and about three in every 10 complaints are about these insurance policies that are sold alongside loans and credit cards. And there is clearly some frustration – although she refuses to name names – as to why many companies aren’t resolving these themselves, rather than letting them get to the FOS.
There are also increasing complaints about financial hardship, unsecured loans and debt collection agencies.
Ms Ceeney says that one of her main tasks is to ensure that the organisation evolves so it can operate efficiently on this scale. “If you go back 10 years we were set up as a small organisation dealing with 25,000 cases a year. This year we are expecting 200,000 cases. We need to continue modernising, improve our technology and reduce the time it takes to handle some of these cases.”
One of the biggest complaints about the service is how long it can take for cases to be settled. Improvements have been made in recent years, but many people still wait months for a judgement.
Ms Ceeney says two-thirds of claims are settled within six months, but admits that this could be improved. “By the time people come to us they have invariably been in one complaints loop or another for quite some time.” She wants a far greater proportion of claims settled within six months, and a significant proportion of these dealt with far quicker than this.
“There are always going to be a handful of complex cases that are going to take a long time to resolve, but many could be done quicker.”
She says new technology may help. “We’d like to see systems in place so people could track where their claim is, and how long it is likely to take. If the Royal Mail can do it with parcels, we should be able to do it with complaints.”
Few anticipated such a huge rise in PPI claims and although the FOS says it “expects” the number of PPI complaints to dip this year, there are no signs of this at present. “If anything, the number of complaints on this issue are speeding up, not slowing down,” Ms Ceeney says.
The FOS is also readying itself for any increase in travel insurance complaints, following the recent travel chaos caused by volcanic ash. “We don’t know whether this will be an issue yet,” she says. “Customers have to register any complaint with their product provider, and they have eight weeks to resolve the problem. Only after this can it be referred to us.”
She adds that this situation has been further complicated by consumers not knowing where to get refunds: airlines, travel insurers or credit card companies.
Looking at a longer time-frame, Ms Ceeney has also expressed concerns about interest-only mortgages, many of which were sold 10 to 15 years ago.
“People sometimes misunderstand this interest-only deal and may not realise they don’t have a repayment vehicle to pay off the debt. Our worry is in 10 years we may see a flood of complaints unless lenders warn borrowers now.”
Although Ms Ceeney is guarded about criticising individual firms, or even sectors within the financial services, there is clearly some concern about the volume of complaints now received from claims management companies.
About 80pc of all PPI claims now come from these companies – who will take a proportion (often as high as 40pc) of any payment received.
“We don’t object to people hiring someone to manage their claim,” Ms Ceeney says, ”but we want to make it clear that they do not need to and this won’t improve their chances of getting a ruling in their favour. There is no trick these companies use to ensure a complaint is upheld.
“The FOS was set up as an approachable, inexpensive alternative to the courts. People don’t need to know legal or financial jargon to lodge a claim, and all will be dealt with impartially. A lot may have changed in 10 years, but that certainly hasn’t.”
