Hi mercman
From the [broken link removed]
Incidentally by 31 December 2008, only 0.2% of my findings - 8 by Financial Service providers and 16 by
complainants - have been appealed and out of 14 appeals closed at that date, only 2 judgments were
against me.
I would guess that the Financial Services providers would only challenge a case if it was for a very large amount of money or if it set a precedent.
I think that the cases against him were Davys and Quinn Direct, which were about points of law. This is inevitable given that the Ombudsman has to interpret a fairly new piece of legislation.
I was involved in one case where it was appealed and the Ombudsman informed me that the complainant had no role in the appeal. The financial institution did not make her a notice party, although I am aware of some complainants being made notice parties.
I think if my case was being appealed, I would show up in court anyway to hear how it was going. And I would give evidence if I was asked.
But I certainly would not hire a solicitor or barrister. The Ombudsman's legal team will be defending the appeal, not me.
The whole idea of the Ombudsman's service is that it is supposed to be a lawyer-free zone.
I have just found some High Court decisions [broken link removed], which are very interesting.