In response to a story that nearly a fifth of all Financial Ombudsman Service (Fos) complaints about advisers were done through a claims management company (CMC), the facts speak for themselves.
The success rate is far lower than when consumers level complaints, this despite the rhetoric that using a CMC increases your chances of success.
The reason is simple–- CMCs abuse the Fos system by escalating complaints regardless of their merit, simply because the system is free.
If all complainants had to pay a deposit – returned if successful – then the tidal wave of opportunistic and downright fraudulent complaints would end at a stroke.
Alan Lakey
Partner,
Highclere Financial Services,
Hemel Hempstead,
Hertfordshire