The Parliament Treasury Committee met on the morning of the 27th February to discuss various issues surrounding the Financial Ombudsman Service. Included in the nearly 2 hour meeting, Abby Thomas who is Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman at the FOS came under the spotlight.
The meeting covered various areas of questioning but of significant interest to TCA was 16 minutes of the meeting focussing entirely on the delays at the FOS in settling outstanding claims relating to loans to purchase fractional timeshare products sold with finance.
The chair of the meeting was held by Harriett Baldwin who is the Conservative MP for West Worcestershire. Putting the problems and complaints against the handling of claims at the FOS was Dame Angela Eagle, Labour MP for Wallasey.
The main points
Dame Angela started her questioning by asking how many fractional cases the FOS had dealt with, and more importantly, how many were still awaiting investigation. Abby Thomas stated that 5,600 had been resolved, a further 2,500 “views” had also been completed with 1,000 views still to be undertaken. In FOS parlance, a view is the conclusion of a case by an investigator, but this is not necessarily final.
Dame Angela was very critical and asked why, despite all these views, no consumer customers had received a penny. Abby Thomas answered by stating that despite a view being completed by an investigator, under FOS rules, if there is disagreement by either the consumer customer, their personal representative or the finance company there is the right for the case to be referred to an actual Ombudsman. In defence, Abby Thomas stated under normal circumstances, a referral rate was normally around 20%, however in the case of fractionals, the rate is nearer 70%. Dame Angela was quick with her response blaming the financial institutions for employing delaying tactics despite the FOS having clear direction as per the Judicial Review in 2023. Once again, in defence, Abby Thomas stated that under FOS guidance rules, asking for an Ombudsman review was the right of all parties involved.
Other points of interest
Dame Angela didn’t hold back with her opinion as to fractional timeshare. On a number of occasions she referred to the product as “dodgy” and one occasion, actually used the word “con”. Abby Thomas did however state that not all cases relating to fractional timeshare are upheld as there is a substantial amount of evidence that needs to be considered.
Quite obviously, Abby Thomas didn’t have exact figures to hand and was requested to submit precise numbers to the Treasury Committee.
TCA Comment
Starting with numbers, there are only around 650,000 timeshare owners in the UK, that number represents just 0.9% of the population. Given this, the number of fractional owners will be significantly smaller, it’s very refreshing that the Parliament Treasury Committee has afforded time in their busy agenda to raise the issue of consumer protection.
Naturally the FOS has sort of had their knuckles rapped, and one would hope that as a result, the timescales and service standards will be improved. Dame Angela pointed out that many fractional owners were advanced in years and flippantly commented with the question “are the banks hoping claimants will die before they have to pay out?”.
If you either own a fractional timeshare or are involved in a claim, the full Parliament TV recording of the meeting may be viewed by clicking this link. Although the entire recording is of interest, those wishing to view the section relating purely to fractional timeshare comment should fast forward to 11.09.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk