The power to settle financial complaints.
The power to settle financial complaints.
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ombudsman news gives general information on the position at the date of publication. It is not a definitive statement of the law, our approach or our procedure.
The illustrative case studies are based broadly on real-life cases, but are not precedents. Individual cases are decided on their own facts.
July/August 2010
We mentioned in the last issue of ombudsman news (issue 86) that one of the most visited sections of the online version of our annual review is the double-page chart, listing the number of new complaints referred to the ombudsman service. The chart shows the number of cases for each specific financial product and service during the year.
This often gives rise to further queries to our technical advice desk – with regular requests throughout the year from different stakeholders for updated figures relating to one or other specific financial product.
We have therefore decided to start using ombudsman news to publish snapshots of our workload on a quarterly basis. This should make it easier for everyone to see the numbers and trends as they emerge throughout the year – rather than only seeing the figures annually, after the financial year has ended.
| number of new cases | % resolved in favour of consumer | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
first three months of 2010/2011 (April, May, June) |
full financial year 2009/2010 |
first three months
of 2010/2011 |
full financial year 2009/2010 | |
| payment protection insurance (PPI) | 13,520 | 49,196 | 81% | 89% |
| current accounts | 5,420 | 24,515 | 26% | 20% |
| credit card accounts | 4,296 | 18,301 | 62% | 68% |
| house mortgages | 1,721 | 7,452 | 33% | 37% |
| overdrafts and loans | 1,564 | 6,255 | 43% | 48% |
| car and motorcycle insurance | 1,436 | 5,451 | 46% | 38% |
| deposit and savings accounts | 1,009 | 4,508 | 40% | 52% |
| buildings insurance | 955 | 3,437 | 43% | 43% |
| mortgage endowments | 944 | 5,400 | 30% | 38% |
| ‘point of sale’ loans | 622 | 1,735 | 46% | 52% |
| travel insurance | 553 | 1,956 | 55% | 44% |
| share dealing | 485 | 1,105 | 65% | 52% |
| contents insurance | 444 | 1,863 | 37% | 38% |
| whole-of-life policies | 409 | 1,690 | 35% | 28% |
| hire purchase | 399 | 1,430 | 44% | 48% |
| specialist insurance | 397 | 1,070 | 46% | 50% |
| personal pensions | 357 | 1,359 | 30% | 29% |
| portfolio management | 246 | 1,040 | 46% | 48% |
| ‘with-profits’ bonds | 233 | 1,056 | 35% | 28% |
| endowment savings plans | 229 | 1,512 | 31% | 25% |
| debit and cash cards | 220 | 964 | 41% | 43% |
| warranties | 219 | 863 | 53% | 53% |
| unit-linked investment bonds | 204 | 2,453 | 62% | 57% |
| term assurance | 200 | 912 | 32% | 24% |
| catalogue shopping | 196 | 755 | 71% | 79% |
| income protection | 188 | 740 | 40% | 39% |
| investment ISAs | 185 | 1,301 | 46% | 42% |
| cheques and drafts | 148 | 773 | 43% | 49% |
| legal expenses insurance | 142 | 597 | 21% | 25% |
| direct debits and standing orders | 140 | 737 | 38% | 48% |
| private medical and dental insurance | 140 | 652 | 49% | 35% |
| critical illness insurance | 138 | 598 | 35% | 31% |
| debt collecting | 136 | 697 | 37% | 42% |
| interbank transfers | 124 | 606 | 46% | 43% |
| self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) | 112 | 410 | 47% | 53% |
| electronic money | 111 | 453 | 40% | 49% |
| guaranteed bonds | 104 | 595 | 48% | 37% |
| store cards | 100 | 574 | 58% | 74% |
| credit broking | 99 | 341 | 57% | 62% |
| pet and livestock insurance | 99 | 462 | 44% | 24% |
| annuities | 95 | 501 | 29% | 33% |
| (non-regulated) guaranteed bonds | 82 | 421 | 44% | 50% |
| personal accident insurance | 80 | 274 | 48% | 26% |
| hiring, leasing and renting | 69 | 283 | 41% | 37% |
| commercial property insurance | 68 | 487 | 34% | 22% |
| spread betting | 62 | 191 | 17% | 19% |
| debt adjusting | 60 | 231 | 55% | 65% |
| state earnings-related pension (SERPs) | 60 | 560 | 7% | 2% |
| roadside assistance | 59 | 226 | 45% | 35% |
| debt counselling | 56 | 163 | 57% | 63% |
| occupational pension transfers and opt-outs | 55 | 368 | 48% | 48% |
| business protection insurance | 53 | 222 | 23% | 26% |
| commercial vehicle insurance | 52 | 290 | 35% | 35% |
| guaranteed asset protection (‘gap’ insurance) | 48 | 224 | 49% | 53% |
| unit trusts | 36 | 192 | 57% | 44% |
| open ended investment companies (‘oeics’) | 34 | 329 | 67% | 56% |
| total | 39,213 | 160,776 | 52% | 50% |
| other products and services | 363 | 2,236 | 43% | 42% |
| 39,576 | 163,012 | 52% | 50% | |
The table above shows all products and services where we received (and settled) at least 30 cases during the quarter. We have included this information to be consistent with our policy on publishing complaints data relating to named individual businesses. The policy was agreed after public consultation and the complaints data is available on our website.
For a small number of products listed in this table, the figure shown for complaints received in the financial year 2009/2010 differs slightly from the number published in the annual review. This is because certain related products are grouped together differently in the annual review, for ease of presentation.