Financial Ombudsman Service consultation: Our Plans and Budget 2021/22 - Which? response

Summary

The Financial Ombudsman Service continues to play an essential role in providing redress to consumers and in working with firms to improve the way they treat their customers. The significant rise in the number of general cases that you have handled in the first half of this year underlines the important role that you are playing, including in responding to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on people’s lives.

There are three key areas where we see harm for consumers that is likely to lead to significant levels of disputes between firms and their customers in the future:

• Authorised push payment fraud
• Tailored support for mortgage and consumer credit customers impacted by coronavirus
• Buy-now, pay-later