FSA warns mortgage endowment providers on complaints handling

Clive Briault, FSA Managing Director, Retail Markets fired a shot across the bows of mortgage endowment providers at the beginning of January when, in a letter to chief executives, he observed, “Firms should not manage their own caseloads by allowing an excessive number of complaints to flow through to the FOS [Financial Ombudsman Service].”The issue emerged as FOS began to uphold a “very high percentage of complaints from some firms.” Mr Briault said that the regulator was concerned because such evidence suggested that other consumers, whose similar complaints had been turned down by a firm but who had not pursued the matter through FOS, may have been wrongly treated. FOS also found that some firms had rejected complaints that differed only marginally from earlier cases which it had upheld. The regulator has called on firms to review their complaints handling procedures and is in direct contact with a number; it will conduct “detailed” supervisory work on the subject this year.