the independent assessor
The independent assessor is appointed by our board and has her own official terms of reference (see below). She can consider complaints from consumers and businesses about the level of service we provide.
The independent assessor's remit does not cover disagreements about whether we were right to uphold or reject a dispute between a business and a consumer.
If you have given us the opportunity to respond to a complaint about the level of service we have provided, and you’re still not happy, you can contact the independent assessor – Linda Costelloe Baker OBE.
The independent assessor will consider the information you provide and look at all our papers on the case. She will then decide whether your complaint about our service is justified. If she thinks the service we gave you was satisfactory, she will tell you why. If she thinks our service was not satisfactory, she will explain her reasons and will recommend the steps we should take to put things right.
If you need to contact the independent assessor, please write to:
The Independent Assessor
PO Box 35738
London
E14 9YU
Each year the independent assessor produces an annual report, setting out findings and recommendations made over the year. The independent assessor's report is published in full in our annual review each year.
The last annual report – covering the financial year 2009/2010 – was by Michael Barnes CBE, who retired as independent assessor in May 2010.
the independent assessor's terms of reference
- Any person or business directly affected by the statutory functions of the Financial Ombudsman Service may refer a complaint to the independent assessor about the standard of service provided by the ombudsman service (a "service complaint"), provided:
a) the service complaint has first been made to the chief ombudsman or one of the principal ombudsmen or heads of casework, and they have had a reasonable opportunity of responding to the service complaint; and
b) the person or business making the service complaint remains dissatisfied and complains to the independent assessor within three months of the Financial Ombudsman Service confirming that it has completed its own internal procedures in relation to the service complaint. - If the independent assessor receives a service complaint that also relates to other matters, he or she will only investigate the service complaint. Service complaints exclude, among other things:
a) the merits of any decision involving a complaint against a business under the law and/or rules relating to the Financial Ombudsman Service (including: jurisdiction issues; the wider-implications process; dismissing, rejecting or upholding a complaint; and any redress);
b) employment issues relating to employees of the Financial Ombudsman Service; and
c) issues involving commercial transactions between the Financial Ombudsman Service and third parties.
- Generally, the independent assessor will only consider service complaints after the complaint against the business has been concluded. In exceptional cases, the independent assessor may require the Financial Ombudsman Service to suspend investigation of the complaint against the business while the service complaint is considered.
- The independent assessor will have access to all files held by the Financial Ombudsman Service relating to the service complaint, and may seek any further information that he or she considers necessary – from the person or business making the service complaint, or from the Financial Ombudsman Service.
- If the independent assessor considers that a service complaint should be upheld in whole or in part, he or she may recommend to the chief ombudsman that the Financial Ombudsman Service should apologise or pay appropriate compensation (equivalent to what the ombudsman service would itself award against a business in similar circumstances) – for any damage, distress or inconvenience caused by the Financial Ombudsman Service’s level of service to the person or business making the service complaint.
- If the chief ombudsman does not accept that recommendation, the independent assessor will refer the matter to the board of the Financial Ombudsman Service. The board will normally decide on its response at the next meeting, following its receipt of the independent assessor's recommendation.
- If the board of the Financial Ombudsman Service decides not to comply with a recommendation referred to it by the independent assessor, it will tell the independent assessor – and the person or business making the service complaint – its reasons for not doing so, and it will publish these reasons in its annual report (see 9 below).
- The independent assessor will give his or her findings in writing to the Financial Ombudsman Service and to the person or business who made the service complaint. There is no further appeal against the independent assessor’s decision.
- Each year the independent assessor will compile, for inclusion in the annual report of the Financial Ombudsman Service, a summary of the number and nature of the complaints received by him/her, and of any recommendations made to the chief ombudsman or referred to the board of the Financial Ombudsman Service.