On 15 May 2019, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) published its annual review 2018/2019. FOS reported (among other complaints) an 89% rise in complaints about consumer credit.
The high-cost short-term lending (HCSTL) sector remains on FOS’s radar. It continues to hear from customers, who it says, have had trouble after being lent money and who’ve been left to struggle with unsustainable and persistent debt.
FOS is concerned that businesses are still failing to assess a customer’s affordability and aren’t learning enough from the complaints its resolved. To help businesses, FOS is publishing its decisions (https://www.ombudsman-decisions.org.uk) setting out its thinking on these types of complaints. Of particular note, is complaints arising out of loans taken out a long time ago. FOS says it’s taking the time to explain to lenders the questions they should ask before telling customers it’s too late to complain.
Given the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent interventions and FOS’s concerns, the HCSTL sector remains high on the agenda for now.
The Annual Review: https://annualreview.financial-ombudsman.org.uk