Written question asked by Wayne David (Labour) on Thursday, 16 December 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 20 December 2004. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Monday, 20 December 2004 on behalf of the Treasury.

Treasury

Question: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how long on average it took the Financial Services Ombudsman to investigate complaints in the last year for which figures are available. - Including figures.

Answer: Mr. David: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how long on average it took the Financial Services Ombudsman to investigate complaints in the last year for which figures are available. [206860] Mr. Timms: The Financial Ombudsman Service's Annual Review of the year 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 states that the average time taken to resolve a complaint by guided mediation, an informal settlement process, was four months. Cases where either party to the dispute requests a more formal review in order to settle the dispute took on average nine months In this period, the Financial Ombudsman Service received a total of 97,901 complaints which were referred to adjudicators. The Service resolved 47 per cent. of these complaints within three months, 79 per cent. within six months and 91 per cent. within nine months.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 206860; 428 c1409W
Session: 2004-05
Subjects: Complaints Financial services Standards Financial Ombudsman Service
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk