Complaints Commissioner criticises FCA over continued delays

The FCA is still "taking far too long to conclude complaints", according to the annual report from The Complaints Commissioner.

Related topics:  Finance News
Rozi Jones
20th July 2017
FCA
"the FCA’s responses to complainants have lacked an openness to acknowledge error fully, and have shown a reluctance to place themselves in the shoes of the complainant or the general public."

The Commissioner received 138 complaints about the FCA in 2016/17, up from 82 the previous year.

In the 2016/17 report, the Commissioner emphasises that he alerted the FCA in early 2016 to emerging delays. He acknowledged that although the backlog which had built up would take time to work through the system, the Commissioner’s Office spent a "considerable amount of time dealing with complaints that the FCA was not keeping complainants updated, and was taking far too long to conclude complaints".

Of the two main issues outlined in the report, the first was that people who were already feeling aggrieved therefore found that the complaints process "aggravated rather than ameliorated that sense of grievance".

The second issue related to the FCA’s "tendency to adopt a defensive position, especially in complex cases".

Antony Townsend, the Complaints Commissioner, said: "There remains a minority (generally the more complex and sensitive cases, sometimes involving whistle-blowers) in which the FCA’s responses to complainants have lacked an openness to acknowledge error fully, and have shown a reluctance to place themselves in the shoes of the complainant or the general public.

"I have a particular concern that there is insufficient recognition that small firms, and less informed consumers, may not have the resources to understand complex matters in the way that, say, a large bank has. I was pleased that the FCA invited me to address their senior managers recently on these issues, so that I could share those concerns."

In response, the FCA said: "We regret that that the Commissioner has had reason to repeat the recommendations made in his last Annual Report, particularly in relation to delays in handling complaints.

"We have increased the resources available to the Complaints Team, recruited more senior investigators with experience of dealing with complex cases and implemented revised procedures to address this issue.

"The FCA Complaints Team has instigated a continuous improvement programme that specifically looks at items such as the way we engage with complainants. This includes reviewing the tone of our communications and operating an effective root cause analysis on the complaints we receive. For the most complex cases, a Senior Adviser has been appointed to lead investigations. In addition to the initial technical changes, we are now focusing on the user friendliness and tone of the wording, which is in line with the Commissioner’s findings on ensuring fairness and accessibility.

"It will take time for the benefit of these changes to take full effect but we continue to focus on it and welcome the Commissioner’s continued monitoring."

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