Undertrained FOS staff 'rely on Google' to solve cases

Thousands of cases could be re-opered

Hannah Godfrey
clock • 2 min read

An investigation into the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) revealed the body undertrains its staff, resulting in them not fully understanding the products customers are complaining about.

Channel 4 programme, Dispatches, which aired on Monday 12 March, painted the FOS in a negative light, suggesting employees were not adequately trained to deal with cases and that people lose out because it's easier to let down a complainant rather than persuade a business of the decision taken. An undercover reporter secretly filmed interviews with FOS employees who admitted to not being fully competent at their jobs. One admitted to Googling different products, while another said the customers often know more about the product than the investigators because they are "so invested in thei...

To continue reading this article...

Join Investment Week for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, analysis and opinion from the investment industry, including the Sustainable Hub covering fund news from the ESG space
  • Get ahead of regulatory and technological changes affecting fund management
  • Important and breaking news stories selected by the editors delivered straight to your inbox each day
  • Weekly members-only newsletter with exclusive opinion pieces from leading industry experts
  • Be the first to hear about our extensive events schedule and awards programmes

Join now

 

Already an Investment Week
member?

Login

Trustpilot