Hi Bull
Very interesting comparison.
I look at it like this.
If the banks are genuinely trying to sort out complaints themselves before they get to the Ombudsman, then the only ones going to the Ombudsman would be the cranks and the Ombudsman would uphold a very low percentage.
If the banks reject all complaints, then the Ombudsman would uphold a much higher percentage of complaints. I think it was Joe Meade who complained that one particular unnamed lender, was using the FSO as their complaints department.
In the first case, the Ombudsman will be criticised for upholding so few complaints.
In the second case, the Ombudsman will be praised for being consumer friendly.
But the first case, where the lender sorts it out first, is much better for the consumer.
I am not saying that this is the difference between Irish and British consumers and banks, but the raw "complaints upheld" figures tell us very little.
But it would be worth investigating. For example, is there a particular type of complaint which is upheld a lot in the UK - maybe PPI claims.