Brendan Burgess
Founder
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The Ombudsman has issued h is Bi-annual review. It seems to be over two PDFs. His comments about Customers in Financial Difficulties are on Page 35 of[broken link removed]
Given the current economic climate, it is no surprise that a significant amount of complaints are registered by customers of Financial Service Providers who are in difficulty in repaying their debts to that institution.
These complaints range right across the spectrum, from credit card debts, to personal loans, overdrafts and mortgages.
A theme running through the complaints seen in the office relates to an allegation that the Provider is not dealing with that customer in a fair a reasonable manner, be that in not entering into negotiations in a positive way, or by making contact (either by letter or phone) with that customer so that the customer feels “threatened or harassed” .
Where a customer finds themselves in debt or in danger of getting into debt, this office would initially refer the customer to their local Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS). The primary concern would be to facilitate a customer in debt to enter into an arrangement with their bank which would ease the financial strain, and the Bureau acknowledges the excellent service provided by MABS in that regard.
In some instances, we have seen complaints registered by small and medium sized enterprises, sole traders and farm enterprises that have been refused credit from certain banks (i.e. those participating in the NAMA scheme). We refer these cases to the Credit Review Office, which was established to examine eligible enterprises that have had their application for credit refused or reduced or have had credit facilities withdrawn, and feel that the bank’s decision is unjustified. The Credit Review Office will, on application from the borrower, carry out an independent and impartial review of the bank’s decision.
While MABS and the Credit Review Office deal with the substantive issues relating to the debt, this office may still investigate the customer service issues which have arisen in Providers dealing with their customers.
In such investigations, we would have particular regard to whether the Provider has adhered to the provisions of the Consumer Protection Code, which sets out a series of standards by which Financial Service Providers should treat their customers.
Given the current economic climate, it is no surprise that a significant amount of complaints are registered by customers of Financial Service Providers who are in difficulty in repaying their debts to that institution.
These complaints range right across the spectrum, from credit card debts, to personal loans, overdrafts and mortgages.
A theme running through the complaints seen in the office relates to an allegation that the Provider is not dealing with that customer in a fair a reasonable manner, be that in not entering into negotiations in a positive way, or by making contact (either by letter or phone) with that customer so that the customer feels “threatened or harassed” .
Where a customer finds themselves in debt or in danger of getting into debt, this office would initially refer the customer to their local Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS). The primary concern would be to facilitate a customer in debt to enter into an arrangement with their bank which would ease the financial strain, and the Bureau acknowledges the excellent service provided by MABS in that regard.
In some instances, we have seen complaints registered by small and medium sized enterprises, sole traders and farm enterprises that have been refused credit from certain banks (i.e. those participating in the NAMA scheme). We refer these cases to the Credit Review Office, which was established to examine eligible enterprises that have had their application for credit refused or reduced or have had credit facilities withdrawn, and feel that the bank’s decision is unjustified. The Credit Review Office will, on application from the borrower, carry out an independent and impartial review of the bank’s decision.
While MABS and the Credit Review Office deal with the substantive issues relating to the debt, this office may still investigate the customer service issues which have arisen in Providers dealing with their customers.
In such investigations, we would have particular regard to whether the Provider has adhered to the provisions of the Consumer Protection Code, which sets out a series of standards by which Financial Service Providers should treat their customers.