Financial Ombudsman Service

Michael

Was under the misapprehension that the Financial Ombudsman Service was truly independent, and looked at things from a customers viewpoint. I no longer think this is the case. Very disappointed with their decision in my case (a travel insurance claim that was rejected) - and don't believe they consider the position of a customer - only of the insurer. Would like to say it's worth a shot if all else fails, but honestly can't say it's worth your time. Small claims court probably a better option.

Mike Mercieca

Don't expect to be treated fairly by this organisation as they are biased towards their paymasters the very organisations they are supposed to be protecting the public from! They actually believe it's ok for banks to lie to their customers!!! Like all the other useless quangos we have in the UK they are just there to give the illusion that the public have a route to financial justice. Nothing could be further than the truth! They don't even deserve the one star minimum I am compelled to give! Their Trustpilot rating speaks for itself and you would think the Government would disband an organisation that serves the public so poorly and in which the public has so little trust!

Barkat khan

I had case where my brother bank took money from my account. I complained and was told that they couldn't help.so i took bank to court and won. I just found out that Banks pay for FOB,So they don't want to help you. My personal experience suggests FOB should be obolished, Its Not Fit For Purpose. Get Rid Now.ps These investigaters,like Hamza etc dont care and if you look on their own website, pass Rate very low.FOB SHOULD BE OBOLISHED, NO GOVERNMENT LISTENING. THEIVES AND WOLVES FOB

Jaspal Dhariwal

I'll be taking my case to a small claims court and a separate case for ICO breaches This is the best course of action if you genuinely believe you have a strong case and it'll be in front of the judge so perjury will be in place should someone decide to lie, which one can do to the FOS but would be very unwise in front of a judge Also request everything on your case from the data protection team at the FOS This includes any documents they had visibility to You can then break down if they actually referenced key evidence or copied and pasted word for word from the financial company

Jim

Don't waste your time with this lot. If you want justice you should engage a solicitor. Any organisation funded by big business cannot operate independently. To operate efficiently they need to be honest and transparent with the consumer from the beginning, don't build your hopes up they go through the motions and string you along. They should be closed down. There is something seriously wrong when you look at the reviews for this business Fair and Reasonable don't make me laugh

rocko

A total waste of time, staffed by inexperienced, inept people. Despite its claims that it is impartial, it is not. this is exemplified by a recent final decision I received in which the ombudsman (Josh Haskey) makes an absurd comment that any of the policy definitions are not intended to represent what the policy covers - I would question what the purpose of policy definitions are - they are contractual terms to which the policy is subject. However, the ombudsman choses to ignore the contractual terms. He informs me that the FOS doesn't make legal determinations - yes that is correct - but my argument on the legal principles was on established legal position on consumer contract law. Provisions in law are material to assessing what is fair and reasonable conduct in the circumstances of the case, such as consumer protections provided for in legislation or contract requirements in common law. In determining what is 'fair and reasonable' the ombudsman is required to take into account law, regulations, guidance, standards and codes of practice. But the ombudsman has ignored both the principles of law applicable to my case as well as ignored the policy terms. I also pointed out to him a previous decision issued by a different ombudsman against the same insurer and on similar circumstances to mine which was upheld in favour of the consumer. However, this ombudsman chose to ignore the findings in that case. It is of concern that there is no consistency of approach within the FOS itself and decisions are made on the whims and fancy of a particular ombudsman with there being no overall point of responsibility for determination within the FOS. It is of concern also that the FOS produces determinations which ate inconsistent - there should be predictable outcomes for both consumers and firms. All in all the decision issued is so perverse and irrational. The whole criteria for the FOS seems to be to close cases as fast as possible and they see the consumer as the 'weak' party and easy to fob-off.

Barry Clark

Trustpilot has flagged up the situation where I have named the Ombudsman and Investigator involved in my case, suggesting they have been informed that I have questioned their propriety. I can only thank Trustpilot for their notification and I accept that they need to be assured that I am acting in good faith. I have therefore informed Trustpilot that I readily stand by my decision to name the two individuals. I suspect that whoever has contacted Trustpilot has referred to the ombudsman’s “Final decision reply form” in that I ticked the box “To accept the Ombudsman ‘s decision.” I did since it was the least onerous of the three choices I was presented with. I understand that many others will have been faced with the same dilemma where the most they will get is £100, and no more. It is tantamount to blackmail since it is obvious the ombudsman has determined that his opinion and that of the business will be that presented in the Final Decision. The Final Decision was so divorced from the truth in my case. Once I received the Final Decision on 20th May 2025 I challenged it 9 times in all including emails sent to the Head Ombudsman and the Independent Assessor as well as the FOS pair. Only the investigator replied basically saying the Final Decision was just that; FINAL! What else could I do? In truth the £100 had already been expended on tracked postage and the like. There was nothing in it for me whatsoever. I had also had to pay extra for my motor insurance premium due to Saga’s incompetence, which the ombudsman discounted. Who can afford to challenge the ombudsman’s decision in the High Court? However, whoever informed Trustpilot naturally didn’t inform them that I wrote on the ombudsman’s Final decision reply form “While I accept the Ombudsman’s Decision, I don’t necessarily agree with it.” How could I agree with it when the ombudsman had deliberately and deceivingly overlooked a fraudulent act that a Saga agent had committed against me? I have the agent’s emails to me that confirm the fraud occurred. Since someone associated with FOS has endeavoured to “influence” Trustpilot in this matter, it would be reasonable to assume that the same individual has persuaded the Fraud Squad that my 20 detailed and evidenced claims related to the fraud were nought but fantasy. Almost 5 months after the receipt of the Final Decision and 17 months since I was informed that I had caused an accident while sitting in my parked car, I am no nearer gaining satisfaction in this matter. The last document I received from Saga was received on 4th June 2024 which states that I “Hit parked third party or immobile property”, “No-Non Fault” and the date of cancellation was removed. When I requested Saga’s CEO on 22nd July 2025 to replace the offending document his secretary replying on his behalf would not.

Rabbi

I was the victim of a scam that took my entire life savings — $70,000. I turned to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) UK, hoping they’d investigate fairly and help me hold Wise (the financial institution involved) accountable. Instead, I was let down at every step. Wise allowed this huge sum to leave my account in less than 30 seconds, without any authorisation or security checks. No alerts, no warnings, no protection. Any responsible bank would’ve flagged this. Wise didn’t — and I lost everything. I brought all of this to the FOS. I gave them the evidence, explained everything, and pleaded for help. Ombudsman manager Sarah Brimacombe told me my case would be reviewed properly. But that promise meant nothing. Critical details were ignored. Case investigator Ross Allan was dismissive, rude, and showed no empathy at all. It felt like they were defending Wise from day one, not helping me. The final decision by ombudsman Thom Bennett was vague, confusing, and full of contradictions. It felt rushed, like they just wanted to get rid of the case. They clearly didn’t understand (or didn’t care about) the seriousness of what happened or how it affected my life. What makes this even worse is that after the FOS closed my case, I contacted the CFPB in the US — and Wise admitted there that I was the victim of a scam. This directly contradicts what they claimed during the FOS investigation. I sent this new information to the FOS, but they refused to reconsider, saying their decision was final. They wouldn’t even look at it. I’m a stroke patient. This entire ordeal has broken me mentally, physically, emotionally, and financially. The stress and trauma have taken a serious toll on my health. I’m now unable to work and support myself because of what I’ve been through. I’m from a poor third-world country — still, they did this injustice to me. I had nowhere else to turn, and I put my faith in a system that promised to protect victims like me. But after more than three years, all I’ve received is rejection, apathy, and cold bureaucracy. The FOS was supposed to protect consumers. Instead, they protected the company and left me with nothing. Please be careful. In my experience, the FOS is not fair, not independent, and not on the side of victims. They failed me when I needed help the most.

Rosie

Monzo closed my account despite knowing I was in financial difficulty, then failed to properly handle a chargeback I raised. I escalated it to the Financial Ombudsman, but it took 6 weeks just to assign someone to my case. When they did respond, the investigator downplayed Monzo’s failings and ignored the wider impact and how Monzo actually breached many contracts in regards to Consumer rights. Instead of holding the bank accountable, I was referred to charities, as if that makes up for a lack of duty of care. There was nothing impartial about this process. It felt like both Monzo and the Ombudsman were protecting each other, not the customer.

Mike

Perhaps as expected (and discussed at the point if registering a complaint) I asked who pays for their service! Is is paid for by the company that one is complaining against! Say no more really. One would hope that this would be a fair review. Plusnet have not disclosed the truth in this matter. The line installation was faulty, I spent so one time going through this with then. Anyway none of this send to ombudsman. I was stupid and sent the basic truth. Clearly I was declined. I raised it again and asked to it is to have a conversation in this regard. No such conversation has taken place and again declined. I have now left a personal message per last time. I think it may be best to lie as it will put you on an even fitting when dealing with Plusnet (who are BT) who messed up the line. I incurred other expenses to mobile use/cost in this, in fact I had to get a second mobile SIM to use due to my use. Again despite my request to talk to an agent and having left a phone message I am again not spoken with and declined within minutes

Ml

What went wrong? I escalated my case to the Financial Ombudsman after Hometree left me and my 80-year-old disabled mum without proper heating for months, pressured me to buy a new boiler instead of repairing the old one, and continued charging me during a legitimate dispute throughout 2023–2024. My fair claims were straightforward:    •   Refund of unauthorised subscription charges taken during the live dispute.    •   Compensation for distress and inconvenience — 18+ months of unsafe, inadequate heating and hot water while caring for a vulnerable adult.    •   Accountability for Hometree’s contractors who repeatedly failed to install delivered parts or complete repairs. Instead of resolving these clear issues, the Ombudsman has turned it into a marathon of delays, template letters, and re-requests for evidence already supplied. Every time I think it’s done, I get another “we’re still looking into it” — more drawn out than a Les Dawson punchline. How can they improve? 1. Prioritise vulnerable cases — don’t leave elderly or disabled people waiting in cold homes. 2. Act on the obvious — refund unauthorised charges promptly; it’s common sense, not rocket science. 3. Hold the company accountable — challenge Hometree’s repeated failures instead of letting them wriggle out with excuses. 4. Communicate like humans — not like a broken typewriter stuck on “Dear Sir/Madam.” I’m giving the Ombudsman one last chance to do their job properly — secure the refunds, award proper compensation, and hold Hometree to account. If they can’t, they’re not protecting consumers — they’re just keeping complaints on file while letting families suffer.

Paul

I dealt with a guy who was so biased to the business I was involved in it was unreal. I brought a faulty vehicle from a garage the dpf was faulty engine management light constant on they sent engineer our didn't even plug car in or test drive car naser came back with decision even though a number of independant garages had reported on car to say was no fault and moneybarn are in the right 100 per cent joke of a service

JT

I hope there's zero star category as from my experience FOS is a waste of time and effort. The particular "ombudsman" only sided with the insurance company even after receiving my detailed description of the case. From his reply, it didn't look like he had read through my description and didn't even spent time or apply logical thinking to assess the arguments. I hope other consumers have better luck with a truly impartial ombudsman as statistics showed that there's a small percentage of cases were upheld at the end.

PW

Awful user platform. Can't upload all the documents. They resort to time wasting by asking further questions and threatening not to further the case. A shambles.

ANTHONY F

This taxpayer stealing institution is a disgrace. They are the most dangerous organisation in the UK to a consumer. They are simply lawyers of the institution you are complaining against. They are an abuser to consumer protection laws that exist. Not only these but they are data breachers and will not safeguard your personal private information. They will gain information from their client institutions and misuse it which does not apply to why you would go to them in the first place. It is a huge scandalous facade that they are representing. Should be investigated and closed with immediate effect. It is even worse now after the dispatches scandal that they were exposed on already. There will be deliberate ignorance used at every given moment to defend those that are paying them a complaint fee obviously financial institutions.

GEOFF

So it took a while to understand this agency first anyone reading this please stay till the end. You have a better option using a solicitor as proven with my latest case. This agency to look into the history how it was formed is very questionable. So the crooks of corruption important documents missed, complaints was overlooked and left. Now a specialised solicitor has taken on the case, FOS will be recalled to give account of the purpose shortfall that was missed

ABDULLAH NASEER ABDULLAH AL-T

My case involved a payment made in GBP through PayPal UK Ltd for a delivery inside the UK. I submitted all necessary documents – including Royal Mail’s official misdelivery confirmation and full PayPal UK transaction data – yet the Ombudsman dismissed the case claiming it was “out of jurisdiction” due to the account origin. This is a blatant evasion. The transaction, the merchant, the payment currency, the delivery, and the dispute — all were under UK jurisdiction. Yet the Financial Ombudsman Service deliberately refused to investigate, offering only template replies and hiding behind technical excuses. This regulator has completely failed in its duty to protect consumers. Their so-called process was vague, contradictory, and dismissive — and they refused to hold PayPal UK accountable for its mishandling. A disgraceful institution failing those it was meant to protect. I urge others not to trust this process blindly. It is broken.

maxine lewis

Disgustingly corrupt, useless organisation!! These people are low level gangsters, crooks. There are funded by the same people they are meant to be holding to account, Seriously replace them with a serious competent organisation!! Zero stars!!

MAA & LSB - Potty Pilots ;)

Complained about a credit card offer with terms that conflicted with their standard terms, so the offer terms took precedence legally. No matter how many times I told the Ombudsman, they ignored it and ruled against me on the basis of the card company's standard terms and condition, without addressing whether the offer terms took precedence. I can only believe, given how many times I POINTED THE CASE OUT PROMINENTLY, that they must be corrupt (or have IQa lower than their individual tumb count) Absolute waste of public money. Support the NHS and our Armed Forces; get rid of the Financial Ombudsman or replace their staff with AI.

Barri Hitchin

The FoS is nothing more than a Trade Union for their Subscribing Banksters, and are not fit for purpose - Avoid, and don't waste your time encouraging them !