Written question asked by Laurence Robertson (Conservative) on Thursday, 16 February 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 27 February 2006. It was answered by Ivan Lewis (Labour) on Monday, 27 February 2006 on behalf of the Treasury.

Pensions Mis-selling

Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average time taken was by the Financial Ombudsman Service to determine claims for pensions mis-selling in 2004–05; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is unable to provide figures for mis-selling cases only, as they record their data for cases received by product type, rather than complaint type. The average time taken by the FOS to resolve all complaints about pension products is 8.5 months.The time taken by the FOS to resolve cases depends largely on whether the consumer and the firm both agree at an early stage to any recommendation or informal settlement that we may suggest, or whether either the consumer or the firm request the formal process. Factors that can affect the time taken by the FOS to resolve complaints include the complexity of cases, the volume of cases in a particular product area and the time taken by both firms and consumers to respond to inquiries.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 54003; 443 c340W;443 c340W
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Complaints Compensation Administrative delays Pensions Misrepresentation Financial Ombudsman Service
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk