The Financial Ombudsman Service is consulting on cutting fees for firms that settle cases early, or the place complaints towards them should not upheld.
The under-pressure physique, which handles complaints between customers and firms, says the thrust of its proposals “goals to raised mirror the hassle and the fee we incur investigating cases and will help the early decision of complaints”.
It will ask firms whether or not case fees must be “differentiated primarily based on the stage at which a case is resolved.
“Complaints that are closed later within the course of require extra work and due to this fact price greater than these that are resolved earlier.”
The physique provides that it has additionally obtained calls from firms for “a stronger ‘polluter pays’ mannequin the place these firms discovered to have achieved one thing flawed contribute extra in direction of our prices.
“This choice would see firms pay much less if we really feel they’ve already resolved the dispute pretty themselves.”
Currently, firms pay a levy to the service, in addition to a set price of £650 for each case the physique investigates towards a enterprise, whatever the stage at which the dispute is resolved.
Since April, complaints submitted by claims administration corporations and never upheld, see fees decreased to £475. Most of the businesses obtain three free cases a 12 months.
The company may even search views on a change to its free case allowance.
It says: “The introduction of charging for skilled representatives now means the worth of free cases can differ.
“Changing the free case allowance to a financial worth would enable all respondent companies {and professional} representatives to save lots of the identical sum of money.”
The physique additionally plans a transfer to amassing fees from firms “quarterly and prematurely”.
It provides: “This could be primarily based on a forecast of case volumes, with a mid-year test and end-of-year adjustment for accuracy.
“This would give the service the funds required to work cases whereas additionally guaranteeing enterprise and representatives have a extra predictable money stream by the 12 months.”
Financial Ombudsman Service interim chief government Jenny Simmonds provides: “These proposals are looking for to modernise our fees for companies, making a fairer funding mannequin that is match for the long run, and which higher displays our work, whereas guaranteeing our service stays free to customers who deliver their cases on to us.”
The service will shut its session on 8 October.
It dealt with 68,000 complaints within the first three months of this monetary 12 months, in comparison with 74,600 new cases in the identical interval a 12 months in the past, an 8.8% fall. It provides that 31% shopper complaints have been upheld throughout all merchandise.
Last month, Liam Coleman was appointed interim chair of the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is present process widespread modifications to cut back its powers and pace up its claims procedures.
