Liam Sloyan, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman, conveyed to an Oireachtas committee that banking institutions and other financial service providers must improve their handling of client complaints before they escalate to his office. He stated that in the previous year, a 29 per cent increase in complaints, which amounted to 6,182, had been registered with his office. As a result, the ombudsman’s staff is currently being augmented by over 50 per cent to manage the increased workload.
MaryRose McGovern, the Deputy Ombudsman, added that there existed no reason for these concerns to reach the ombudsman’s office. She shared her concern that the current year’s initial data indicated a similar trend of reported grievances in 2024.
Mr Sloyan disclosed that over half of these complaints pertained to banking, whereas about a quarter were from insurance company customers. Even though most complaints are sorted out through mediation, Mr Sloyan suggested that these figures should prompt introspection among providers. He urged service providers to ruminate on the essence of these complaints and their inability to amicably solve some due to internal procedural failings.
He posited that 5,184 complaints were resolved within a year’s time, with an average resolution time frame of 8½ months. Despite the burden of the tasks at hand, Mr Sloyan considered the resolution rate and duration acceptable. He was, however, acutely aware of the hardship that might be incurred by individuals lodging these complaints.
The ombudsman’s office is authorised to award aggrieved individuals a maximum of €500,000 in compensation. It can also mandate unlimited sums to rectify adverse situations. In 2023, Mr Sloyan reported that his office supervised resolutions amounting to approximately €4.7 million.
The committee learned that the number of complaints about financial service providers may be limited due to low public knowledge of the ombudsman. Nevertheless, raising public awareness about this remains a priority for the Ombudsman’s office.
In 2023, mortgage products continued to be a substantial cause of grievances, with over 107 reports related to tracker mortgages. These complaints predominantly revolved around banks’ accused failure to provide a full-term tracker product. Of these complaints, 103 were dismissed, as reported to the committee. Four complaints were largely upheld, resulting in directions valued at a sum of €38,000. Prior statistics published by the ombudsman indicated that, from an additional 117 grievances initially filed about tracker mortgages, no binding decision was reached in each case. Out of these, 33 led to settlements while 42 were retracted.