Those with a concern that modern-day justice has been left in the hands of self appointed and self regulating ombudsmen, will be alarmed to read Stuart Hyson's observation that,
"...we know little about the ombudsman's actual performance; instead its merits have largely been assumed without systematic, comparative and empirical based analysis."
(The Ombudsman Research Project: Research papers in ombudsmen. Canadian Political Science Association. 2006)
Like Columbus before them, ombudsmen have unstoppably colonised a brave new world of private civil justice.
Research At Ombudsman Services:
Year Research Pages Cases Award Customer Satisfaction Report
Company
2009/10 DJS 8 260? £1.511.75 Final Report: many(around 6 in
ten) felt the report was complete-
ly or on balance, against them
in line with previous years. This
did not change even after
further representations were
made...financial goodwill be
increased to be more in line
with the financial losses
incurred by the complainant as a result of the problem.
2010/11 DJS 8 465 £900 Many (around two thirds) felt the
report was completely or on
balance against them, in line
with previous years. This did not
change even after further
representations were made.
OS:Property is different to
OS:Communications and
OS:Energy in that the financial
implications are often much
larger as they relate to
expensive purchasing decisions
... this should be looked at and
either expectations could be
managed more tightly from the
beginning of the claim or the
scale of the financial award be
increased to be more in line
with the financial losses
incurred by the complainant as
a result of the problem.
2011/12 BMG 4 464 No average No stand alone CSReport.
BMG: "Both the quantitative
and associated verbatim
comments showed largely
positive findings, with strong
levels of satisfaction with
enquiry handling and high levels
of advocacy of OS. Results
were consistent by sector."
Communications/Energy.
No Property Information.
No Property CSReport.
2012/13 BMG 4 589 No Average No Property CS Report.
2013/14 BMG 3 697 £100 CSR is in Annual Report and
down to 4 paragraphs. There is
no Property information.
2014/15 BMG 2 934 £100 Customer Satisfaction Report is
now contained within directors'
report. 3 paragraphs. No
Property information.
15 - Ap-Dec 2 680 £50 No Property Data. No CSR
BMG
2016 BMG 2 1166 £50 No CSR.
Q. Lord Tim Clement Jones, DJS Research's Customer Satisfaction Reports uncovered widespread (two thirds) dissatisfaction with the level of financial award offered by the ombudsman as they were not in line with the losses they'd suffered. Why did the ombudsman not listen to DJS and property complainants but instead reduce those awards, "significantly?"
The EU Directive 2013/11/EU at 31) states,
"The member State should ensure that ADR entities resolve disputes in a manner that is, fair, practical or proportionate to both the consumer and the trader, on the basis of an objective assessment of the circumstances in which the complaint is made and with due regard for the rights of parties.
Q. Lord Tim Clement Jones, DJS Research reported that two thirds of complainants were dissatisfied with the ombudsman's findings. How does that satisfy the EU Directive's recommendation that disputes be resolved fairly and why isn't that information being reported on today?
Q. Lord Tim Clement Jones, when two thirds of complaints are forced to resort to the company's Further Representation Process in an attempt to make their case understood how does that satisfy the EU Directive's recommendation that complainants have the right to an objective assessment of their dispute?
Q. Lord Tim Clement Jones, how does a 50 quid award satisfy the EU Directive's recommendation for proportionality? Is a 50 quid award for a complex and costly problem, proportionate?
Q. Lord Tim Clement Jones, is the reason behind the ombudsman's failure to heed the recommendations of DJS Research (and complainants) due to the intervention of the regulator, RICS?
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