Instead of making a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service about mortgage endowment claims, consumers are putting their trust in claim management firms, who do not disclose their fees clearly, and raise expectations of their clients falsely. Some Independent Financial Advisors and providers are making little or no investigation of mortgage endowment complaints, and just referring them straight to the FOS, or just ignoring complaints made by consumers. This has lead to an influx of people going to expensive claim management firms, who advertise themselves, because they don't know where else to turn.
The FOS had over 65,000 complaints about this last year, but has been attacked for not making itself known to people, so they know there is someone who can help for a relatively cheap fee of £360.
Our view
There are many complaints that are valid and likewise, we suggest that there are many complaints that are not. The false claims put the genuine ones under a cloud.
If you have a genuine complaint always make it to the financial firm concerned first. They have a duty under Financial Services Authority rules to deal with your complaint within a specified timescale and to deal fairly and openly with you. If you are still not happy you have the right to then refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service who are independent, unbiased arbitrators.
Take a look at our fact sheet guide on "Complaints - Putting Your Case Forward".