os annual report 2013
TRANSCRIPT
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Annual report and accounts 2012/13
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mbudsman Services
Annual report and accounts 2012/13 3
Ombudsman Services is an independent dispute
resolution service for the communications, energy,
property and copyright licensing sectors.
Our vision:
to provide excellent complaint resolution for
consumers and participating companies;
to make recommendations for improvement orchange to companies within the sectors; and
to promote the benefits of independent complainthandling to other industries and their customers.
Our values:
CourteousIndependent
Accessible
EffectiveConsistent
Contents
Foreword from the Chair 4
Chief Ombudsman overview 5
Year at a glance 8
Timeline 10
Aim 1: Provide independent dispute resolution that is high quality, 12
proportionate and effective
Process diagram 15
Aim 2: Ensure that all sections of the community have access 16
to the service
Aim 3:Have a highly skilled, informed and motivated workforce 18
Aim 4: Work with the industry and regulators to improve customer 20service and complaints handling
Aim 5:Enhance the reputation of the company as an independent 22
and reliable commentator of effective dispute resolution
Aim 6: Ensure the business model is responsive and sustainable 24
and provides value for money
Aim 7:Seek new areas of business where there is clear consumer 25
benet and increased exibility and resilience for the company
Communications Overview 28
Complaint types 30
At a glance 32
Sharing the learning 34
Energy Overview 38
Complaint types 40
At a glance 42
Sharing the learning 44
Property Overview 48
Complaint types 50
At a glance 52
Sharing the learning 54
Copyright Licensing Overview 58
Board report The directors report 62
Customer satisfaction research 64
Service complaints 65
Report of the Independent Assessor 66
Financial statements Independent auditors report 70
Year ended 31 March 2013 71
Notes to the nancial statements 73
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his is my third year as Chair of
mbudsman Services. I am very
rateful for the support that I receive
onsistently from other board
members and from the executive
o assist me in this role.
uring the last year the company
as gone from strength to strength.
s shown in this report, we have
troduced new processes and an
nhanced IT system, and these
hanges have created a very dynamicel to the organisation. We are
moving at a rapid pace to ensure that
e provide an outstanding service to
onsumers and to our participating
ompanies. These changes have also
elped the board to further enhance
s contribution. We are now able to
monitor a wider range of information,
or example, on quality measures.
At a national level consumer policy
is developing rapidly, with all political
parties now more focussed on this
important topic. Ombudsman Services
is an important part of the consumer
landscape and the board encourages
active collaboration with these
agendas. At the same time, we are
very conscious that our role is to be
completely even-handed between
the consumer and the participating
company when we resolve disputes.
The board is pleased to seethat enhanced relationships with
companies have developed during
the year, so that we can add further
value to their operations and we can
learn from them.
I would like to offer my personal
and warm thanks to board members,
to the executive and to the employees
at Ombudsman Services for their
contributions during the year.
The quality and reputation of our
service depends totally on them.
Professor Dame Janet Finch DBE
Chair of the Board
Foreword from the Chair,
Professor Dame Janet Finch DBE
Ombudsman Services has
implemented a series of major
change programmes during the year:
the customer journey, to know and
be known, employee engagement
and business development. These
programmes were successfully
achieved, while consistently meeting
key performance indicators and
without increasing unit costs.
The customer journey
We have two sets of customers
the consumers who make complaints
and the companies who participate in
our schemes. Our product is dispute
resolution and we aim to deliver this
quickly, effectively and at reasonable
cost. We owe it to our customers to
provide the best possible service and
we constantly seek ways to improve
and become ever more efcient.
During 2012/13 we removed
non-value added steps from our
processes and rened the way we
manage complaints to make us more
efcient and exible. Our processes
are assured by strengthened quality
control and are supported by our
team of ombudsmen, who provide
advice and guidance and who make
nal decisions when necessary.
We have underpinned the customerjourney by a large investment in new
technology, which not only helps our
ofcers but makes us more accessible
to customers and other stakeholders.
To know and be known
Our to know and be known change
programme has enabled us to have
a good understanding of the context
in which we operate and the external
developments that have a direct
impact on us. It has heightened
awareness of our service with other
sectors and members of the public
and helped us to provide structured
feedback on our learning from
complaints to relevant stakeholders.
Employee engagement
Our organisation is only as good
as our people. Our employee
engagement change programme
concentrates on supporting and
rewarding our people as well as
ensuring they have forums for
debate and feedback.
Business development
Business development is a key priority
for the Ombudsman Services board.
During 2012/13 we won the bid
to become the ombudsman and
investigation service for the Green
Deal the governments agship
environmental policy that aims to
improve the housing stock and
reduce the consumption of energy.Having independent redress available
should something go wrong gives
condence to householders
considering a Green Deal plan.
We also expanded our copyright
licensing remit to cover most of the
collective management organisations.
We welcome the initiative taken by the
government in the Enterprise and
Regulatory Reform (ERR) Act,
which encourages voluntary regulation
and redress but gives the secretary
of state powers to impose this if
necessary. An amendment made to the
same act will introduce a requirement
for letting and managing agents to be
part of an ombudsman scheme.
The future of the ombudsman
European Union (EU) legislation on
alternative dispute resolution means
that each member state must ensurethat independent redress schemes are
available for all consumer transactions.
The member state must be able to
show that these schemes comply with
certain criteria, provide the facility for
complaints to be made online and be
able to deal with cross-border
disputes.
I believe passionately in the work
of the ombudsman we really can
and do make a difference. A dispute
over 100 may not seem a lot to a
global company but it makes a huge
difference for the person struggling to
make ends meet. Easy access to an
independent means of resolution not
only gives a measure of protection,
but also gives consumers condence
to engage with the market and so
brings benets to industry.
As Ombudsman Services celebratesits 10 year anniversary, we look
forward to the challenges ahead.
We are condent that we already
comply with the EU legislation and
are proud to demonstrate that we
are independent, fair, efcient,
cost effective and, above all,
customer focussed.
Lewis Shand Smith
Chief Ombudsman
Chief Ombudsman overview,
Lewis Shand Smith
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Ombudsman Services
We resolve complaints
from consumers about
companies that have
signed up to our
service. We aim to
resolve complaints
as early as possible.
We are entirely
independent; we do
not take sides and we
make decisions based
on the facts. 19,639complaints resolved in 2012/13
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mbudsman Services
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umber of new contacts
We responded to 122,589
ew contacts during 2012/13,
n average of 490 per working day.
his is 6% more than the previous
ear. The gure does not include
ubsequent contacts about the
ame case.
Just over half (51%) of the consumers
who contacted Ombudsman Services
for the rst time used a telephone.
Of the 60,019 written contacts,
78% were emails and online forms,
22% were letters and fewer t han
1% were faxes.
Reasons we accept a complaint
about a participating company
Companies have eight weeks to
resolve a complaint, after which theircustomer can complain to us. In line
with previous years, the majority (77%)
of complaints we accepted were
because eight weeks had elapsed
without resolution.
Sometimes a company provides a nal
response or deadlock letter, within the
eight week period, which states that
it will no longer be considering the
complaint. The complainant can then
bring their complaint to us. A fth
of complaints we accepted were
because the company issued a
deadlock letter.
Where appropriate, an ombudsman
may use discretion to accept a
complaint that is outside of our terms
of reference. For example, a consumer
must complain to us within nine
months of rst complaining to the
service provider. If the complainant
was unable to contact us sooner,
perhaps because of serious illness,
we may accept their case.
We accepted 3% of complaints
using ombudsmans discretion.
Year at a glance
Reasons we cannot accept a
complaint about a participating
company
The main reason we cannot accept
a case about a participating company
is because the consumer has not
given the company a reasonable
opportunity to resolve their complaint.
We work with these complainants to
give them advice and signpost t hem
to the appropriate organisation.
Other reasons that we cannot accept
a complaint include the consumer
waiting over nine months to contact
us after reporting the issue to the
service provider, or waiting more than
12 months to report the problem.
These account for less than 1% of
cases that are outside our terms
of reference.
During 2012/13 we resolved 19,639
complaints, 7% more than the
previous year.
We resolved 34% of complaints
using early resolution and mutually
acceptable settlement. This is where
we contact both parties, preferably
by phone, to discuss the complaint
and its resolution and try to reach
agreement.
The remaining 66% of the complaints
required further investigation,
where we request a case le from
the participating company and issue
a report.
Awards and remedies
To resolve a complaint we can require
a participating company to provide a
nancial award, to return the customer
to the position they were in before the
problem occurred or to acknowledge
a shortfall in customer service.
We can also require a non-nancial
remedy such as an apology, an
explanation, a service or some
practical action. If we nd the
company is not at fault and hasacted appropriately, we may decide
that no further action is required.
If the complainant accepts our
resolution, it is binding on the
participating company, which then
has 28 days to implement the remedy.
During 2012/13 we required
companies to provide both a nancial
award and a non-nancial remedy in
55% of cases. We required a nancial
only award in 12% of cases and a
non-nancial only remedy in 21% of
cases. We required no further action in
12% of cases.
Key performance indicators
(KPIs)
We have key performance indicators
(KPIs) that measure the time we
take to respond to calls andcorrespondence and the time we
take to issue reports. During 2012/13
we achieved KPIs in all categories.
Number of participating
companies
We have almost 8,500 participating
companies signed up to our service.
We handle complaints for a range
of sectors including communications,
energy, property, copyright licensing
and the Green Deal.
Number of employees
As of 31 March 2013 we had 156 full
time equivalent employees, 55% were
female and 45% were male.
Income breakdown
ew contacts
122,589
49%Written contacts
51%Telephone contacts
nside and outside our terms of reference
Approximately 22% of the new
contacts we received during
2012/13 were within our terms ofreference; the rest were outside
our terms of reference. Of those
contacts that were outside our
terms of reference, 82% were
premature and likely to return,
11% related to companies or
sectors that we do not currently
cover and 7% were general enquiries
and literature requests.
22%Inside terms of reference
78%Outside terms of reference
82%Premature
11%Companies or sectors that
we do not currently cover
7%General enquiries and
literature requests
The complaints we resolved
34% Resolved usingearly resolution andmutually acceptable
settlement
66% Resolved followinginvestigation
38%Subscription fees
62%Case fees
Total operating costs: 8 million
Female
86
45% 55%
Male
70
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The customer
ourney
We are always looking for ways to
mprove the speed and quality of our
ervice. In 2012/13 we implemented
new case management system and
ith it a host of process changes to
mprove the customers journey from
aising a complaint to resolution.
We are seeing excellent results.We have resolved over 1,000 more
omplaints than the previous year,
e have consistently achieved our
erformance targets and our forecasts
re more accurate.
hief Ombudsman Lewis Shand
mith says: We have adapted our
usiness to offer a quicker, more
obust, higher quality service. We have
andled more complaints, at the same
nit cost, while introducing new
ystems and new ways of working.
his is just the beginning of our
urney.
aster processes
uring 2012/13 we resolved around
500 (34%) complaints over the
hone and we want to do this more
ften. Having a conversation is much
uicker than written communication;e can manage consumers
xpectations more effectively
nd explain our reasoning.
Working quickly and openly with
s also helps companies to retain their
ustomers. We have developed our
ommunication skills and introduced
new telephone system to support
his way of working.
Complaints can now be made
and accepted over the telephone.
Where possible we will continue to
contact both parties in the dispute
by phone that personal contact
can often lead to an agreed resolution.
We resolve disputes in three different
ways early resolution, mutually
acceptable settlement and
Ombudsman Services decision.
Where the resolution is obvious to
us from the beginning we willencourage both sides to accept it
we aim to do that within ve days,
but often can succeed within a few
hours. When the issue is more
complex then we will collect the
evidence, analyse it and propose
a resolution; the aim is to nd a
settlement that is acceptable
to both sides. If this is unsuccessful,
or it is clear from the start that this
route will not lead to resolution, then
we proceed with the more traditional
investigation and provide a report.
In all circumstances the proposed
outcome rests with us and when
accepted by the complainant
becomes legally binding on
the company.
Same high quality
We have taken our quality checking
to the next level by introducing an
independent quality assurance team.
The team sets the standards for written
and verbal work and ensures that
quality assessments are fair, consistent
and transparent. It also monitors service
complaints about us and implements
changes as a result of lessons learned.
The team makes recommendations to
help employees improve and give themcondence in their work.
Investment in technology
Our new case management system
can be adapted to meet the changing
needs of our business, now and in the
future. It includes a customer facing
portal that consumers and companies
will be able to access to get updates
on their own case.
We also have new phone and
workforce management tools that
help us get the most out of our time
and ensure that customers get to
speak to the most appropriate person
at Ombudsman Services.
Provide independent dispute resolution that
is high quality, proportionate and effective
Forecasting
Our operational support team
forecasts complaints and ensures thatwe meet the key performance
indicators set by the regulators.
Real-time analysts manage our
resource to handle peaks and troughs
in complaints and to monitor the
output of employees.
Director of Dispute Resolution
Tracey Newmansays: We are
consistently achieving performance
targets and can plan our workload
up 12 months in advance (within 5%).
We can better plan our head count
and have a much leaner, efcient
organisation as a result.
We have a tailor-made forecasting
model that looks at historical data
and intelligence to plan capacity
requirements and producemanagement information. We have
also introduced regular business
planning meetings, where managers
discuss performance, volumes and
issues that are likely to cause an
increase in contacts.
Tracey continues: It is not an easy
feat forecasting complaints, as a
number of factors can inuence the
volume of people who contact us.
We have taken measures to close
the gap between our expectation
and the reality.
Case study: Early resolution
We received a call from a
complainant at 2.50pm and by3.17pm the same day the company
and the complainant had agreed to
a resolution. The customer had
cancelled her contract but it had
mistakenly rolled over a simple
shortfall in customer service.
The complainant verbally accepted
our account of the complaint and
agreed to send across supporting
evidence. When we spoke
to the company it acknowledged
the error it had made and agreed
to the proposed resolution.
We have adapted our business to offer a
quicker, more robust, higher quality service.
We have handled more complaints, at the
same unit cost, while introducing new
systems and new ways of working
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Process diagram
Investigations
Enquiries
Enquiry comes in Verbal acceptance Possible early resolution
Case management
Evidence comes inTriage and case preparation
Mutually acceptable settlement Ombudsman Services decision
ase study: Mutually acceptable settlement
The consumer wanted to know which car parking space was allocated to his at. The issue was resolved but the
complainant was unhappy with the time and trouble it took and wanted 250 from the managing agent.
We called the complainant and conrmed our understanding of the issue that the parking allocation was resolved but
there had been some delays. We explained that the developer was responsible for allocating the parking space, not the
managing agent, and that the companys only shortfall was the delay in responding.
We recommended that the managing agent apologise and make a goodwill payment in recognition of the shortfall.
We explained that the complainant had 14 days to accept our resolution or to provide representations that showed a
signicant error in facts or signicant new evidence not previously available. The complainant agreed to the resolution,
as did the managing agent.
Head of Investigations Angela Taylor says: The investigation ofcer demonstrated good sector knowledge,
explaining where the responsibility lay, the importance of paying service charges and the consequences of not
doing so. The complainant was interested in punitive actions but we explained that is not our role and gave
reasons for the award we recommended. This is a good example of our new verbal process, and we hope to
resolve more cases where appropriate in this way.
Measuring success
good measure of our standards
feedback from the people who
se our services. We run customer
atisfaction research every quarter
o ensure we are achieving good
andards. It measures the whole
ustomer experience and gives us
n early indication of problems and
uccesses.
Looking ahead
The infrastructure we are putting in
place now will help us to achieve high
quality outcomes for many years to
come. Our new processes and IT
systems are responsive to meet the
needs of existing and new business.
Tracey says: We have many different
strands to our business and we need
a stable infrastructure around the
operation to handle those strands.
We dont want to restrict ourselves
and have made sure that our case
management, skill based routing
and workforce management systems
have the capacity to take us
wherever we need to go.
n our endeavours to lead the way in transparent communication and
ervice excellence, we continue to see real benefit from working with
mbudsman Services. The impartial lens that Ombudsman Services
pplies to consumer referrals, provides not only a route for resolution,
ut also some key learnings in terms of ways to do things better. It is
lear that both service providers and Ombudsman Services share a
ommon goal to provide workable, balanced and fair solutions for
ustomers. This continues to be the case as we move forward,
elping to shape a better energy industry for all.
ritish Gas, Ian Peters, MD, Residential Energy
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To know and
be known
Most people use the services of an
mbudsman only once and so it is
ssential that we are visible and
ccessible.
website that is easy to use
he Ombudsman Services website is
ssential for informing people abouthat we do, for offering advice and
or taking complaints. During 2012/13
received 307,000 visits, with the
ommunications, Energy and
mbudsman Services homepages
eing the most popular landing pages.
fter arriving at the website, the most
opular pages to visit were the
contact us areas and the
omplaint form.
irector of Policy and
ommunications Susan Foxsays:
We changed the websites content
nd layout to make it easier to use.
ew features include a Twitter feed
nd a report card with our latest
ublished statistics. The complain
ow button is more prominent and,
s a result, visits to the what are
ou complaining about? page
ave increased by over 700%.
he participating company tab is alsomore dened to clearly differentiate
he advice we give to consumers from
hat aimed at companies. We have
so added some useful content,
cluding details of our governance
nd credentials. Newsletters, case
udies, press statements and advice
re available to download.
Accessing our service
We make it easy for consumers to
contact us by providing a choice of
methods, including telephone,
textphone, email, online forms, post or
fax. We make reasonable adjustments
to ensure that all consumers
particularly those with disabilities or
whose rst language is not English
have access to our service.
During 2012/13 we responded toapproximately 150 requests to provide
documents in alternative formats such
as large print, braille and audio.
We also offered the services of a
translator and provided documents
in different languages.
Plain language
As part of our commitment to
improving accessibility, we have
refreshed our writing guide. It is based
on plain language principles and we
have built it into our quality assurance
process to ensure we communicate
clearly and effectively.
We have also simplied our lit erature
by replacing booklets with simple fact
sheets that explain our services andprocesses. These can be updated
quickly so that consumers and
companies always have access
to the latest information.
Ensure that all sections of the community
have access to the service
Reaching a wider audience
We now have over 1,000 followers on
Twitter (@OmbudServices), including
national journalists, participating
companies, consumer champions and
members of parliament. Social media
is an effective way to provide
information and comments and to
share links and advice. In November
2012 we launched our Facebook
page to engage with an even wider
cross-section of consumers. We useTwitter and Facebook to signpost
consumers to our website, our
contact centre or to other relevant
consumer organisations, and to keep
people informed of our corporate
events and activities.
Susan says: It makes sense to be
where people are complaining, and
increasingly this is on social media
sites. Social media enables us to raise
our prole and it gives us a great
opportunity to show our personality.
We are a friendly, approachable
organisation and our tweets and
Facebook messages reect this.
Ombudsman Services comments
have been retweeted by consumer
industry leaders, such as Citizens
Advice, Money Saving Expert Martin
Lewis and the BBCs property expert
Henry Pryor, to thousands of Twitter
followers.
Spreading the word
We attend consumer conferences
and exhibitions to share the learning
from the complaints we handle.For example, we exhibited at the
Trading Standards exhibition in
Manchester, spoke at the European
Union consumer summit in Brussels
and attended a seminar to review the
Communications Act from a consumer
perspective. These events are a
valuable opportunity to share
experiences and best
practice in helping
consumers.
Showing your commitment
We provide materials for participating
companies to show that they are
signed up to Ombudsman Services.
We encourage companies to display
our logo to demonstrate their
commitment to customer care.
@OmbudServices tweets
Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat, dont put your money in the
claims companies hats tinyurl.com/bvjm3da
Let them eat cake! Weve spied lots of our, eggs, sugar and milk in our
colleagues bags today for our @macmillancoffee event tomorrow.
Chief Ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith is attending @EnergyUKcomms
annual Parliamentary reception at the House of Commons today
Want to know more about the work we do with communications companies?
Latest newsletter and cases studies http://bit.ly/11vrzCh
Thinking about switching your energy provider? Just make sure that you are
informed, prepared, that you know what... http://fb.me/1H9wYiN8L
Social media enables us to raise our
profile and it gives us a great opportunity
to show our personality. We are a friendly,
approachable organisation and our tweets
and Facebook messages reflect this
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Employee
engagement
he experience of our customers and
akeholders is driven by a friendly,
elcoming and knowledgeable service
elivered by appropriately skilled
dividuals. We have a strong
hilosophy of developing and
romoting from within, so we can put
he talents of our people to good use.
ighly skilled
uring 2012/13 our expanded
arning and development team
rranged a variety of training, from
ain English courses to job specic
nowledge and management
evelopment, to give people the
ondence and ability to do their
bs well. To support the move
owards telephone based resolutions,
e trained people in telephone skills,
egotiation skills and understanding
onict.
irector of Corporate Services
ichard Brown says: We have taken
normous strides to ensure our people
re equipped with the right skills,
nowledge and tools to allow them
o deliver a consistently high quality,
gh performing service.
We also provide opportunities
for people to develop by offering
secondments in different areas of the
business and by involving employees
in signicant projects. The project to
bring in a new case management
system required input from across the
business and allowed employees to
showcase their talents.
Richard adds: We create
opportunities for people to work
in different roles to enhance theirunderstanding of the business and
their potential. It also ensures we have
people who are exible to work as the
business requires. All of this helps to
transform a good customer
experience into a great one.
Informed
In a fast-changing environment,
it is important that employees are
informed of change effectively.
Chief Ombudsman Lewis Shand
Smith says: Our intranet provides
a central hub for news and essential
information. We publish a weekly
employee newsletter and use
managers briefs to deliver key
corporate messages face to face.
We have plans to develop t hese
tools more in the coming year
and to support managers as
communicators.
Motivated
Hard work does not go unnoticed.
In October 2012 we held an internal
event to celebrate the achievements of
our employees. We honoured people
who gained certicates and awards
in areas like ombudsman practice,
leadership and management,
re safety and rst aid.
Lewis says: It is really important that
we stop, take stock and celebrate ourachievements. Our people have
shown an incredible commitment
to the company and their own
development. The spirit in which they
do this work is fantastic and a vital
part of the success of the business.
We also have an events committee to
organise social activities and we are
putting in place a charity crew to
organise fundraising and voluntary
activities for a nominated charity of
the year.
Values and behaviours
We have completed an organisation-
wide exercise to nd out what values
and behaviours we need in the
workplace to improve performance
and help us through a period of great
change. We asked our people to think
about how they contribute to ourstrategic aims and how we can
continue to be more productive and
efcient. We developed values
passion, understanding and
togetherness that encourage
efcient working, cooperation and
positivity across Ombudsman
Services.
Have a highly skilled, informed
and motivated workforce
Richard says: We built these values
into our new appraisal process to
ensure that we recognise and promote
employees contributions to our
working environment. We have a
far better idea of what motivates our
employees and whether they have
the support they need to do their
jobs well. Those who feel valued
and motivated will provide the best
possible service to our customers and
will continue to support our ambition
for growth.
Giving employees a voice
During 2012/13 we ran an employee
survey to nd out how our people feel
about the business and to provide a
benchmark for future improvements.
The results showed that many of our
people are willing to go the extra mile
and are happy to recommend our
services.
However, there is always work to be
done. To build on the areas identied
for improvement, we have expanded
our learning and development
activities and are improving our
internal communications methods.
Richard says: We know we must
preserve the good things about the
organisation, such as its customer
focus and good working relationships,
amidst the changes we are making.
Regular opportunity for employee
feedback is important. We have a
staff consultation group which has
been involved in the signicant
developments at Ombudsman
Services, such as the job evaluation
review, establishing a new appraisal
process and reviewing employees
benets.
We have taken enormous strides to ensure
our people are equipped with the right skills,
knowledge and tools to allow them
to deliver a consistently high quality,
high performing service
Our people have shown an incredible
ommitment to the company and their
own development. The spirit in which they
do this work is fantastic and a vital part of
he success of the business
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Sharing the
earning
ur work on consumer complaints
means we have a unique overview
f the sectors we cover. We use this
osition to raise awareness of issues,
omment on consumer affairs and
hare best practice.
irector of Policy and
ommunications Susan Fox explains:We are in a privileged position.
We learn a great deal from different
akeholders and have a duty to
hare this through our meetings
nd publications.
dentifying issues
customers tell us about a problem a
ompany isnt aware of, we alert the
ompany to the issue and work with
em to manage their customers
xpectations. Similarly, if the company
aware of an issue that may cause a
pike in complaints we expect them to
otify us. During 2012/13 a number of
rge service providers switched IT
ystems, causing some disruption.
ecause they alerted us to the
sruption, we were able to keep their
ustomers up to date and potentially
educe complaints further down the line.
uidance
We give guidance to our participating
ompanies to prevent problems
ecurring. For example, when it
merged that some companies were
ot always alerting consumers to their
ght to redress, we provided standard
tter templates, approved by the
egulators, for them to use. We have
so written guidance on case les
o ensure participating companies
rovide the right information to help
s resolve complaints quickly and
ccurately.
Regular meetings
Relationship Manager Sue Jackson
is the main point of contact for
participating companies and maintains
a good working relationship with them.
Sue shares information and makes
sure that different parties are kept
up to date.
Sue says: Participating companies
need to understand what we do and
work effectively with us to resolvedisputes. The better we understand
companies, the better we are at
resolving their customers complaints.
Sector liaison panels
Our sector liaison panels provide a
good way of sharing the learning and
keeping up to date with industry news.
These panels, for the communications,
energy and property sectors, meet at
least twice a year.
Susan Fox says: It is useful to have
an open forum where we can discuss
process changes, government policy
and emerging issues. These meetings
help us to understand the impact
initiatives can have on companies
and their customers, and they give
us a chance to get feedback. They
also help us to forecast complaints
and plan our resource effectively.
Consumer liaison panel
We bring together consumer groups
at least twice a year to share news
and to discuss consumer protection
issues. The consumer liaison panel
has representatives from organisations
including Age UK, Citizens Advice,
Which? and Trading Standards.
Susan explains: We use the panel
to discuss consumer protection in
the sectors we cover and to raiseconcerns. A good example of the
effectiveness of the panel is the
issue of energy claims management
companies. They have been
promoting their services to
vulnerable consumers, offering to
win compensation from energy
companies for a fee. We urged
organisations to share the message
that redress is free for consumers
and that awards are not guaranteed.
Panel members were not aware of the
issue and agreed to report back on
any experience of claims management
companies.
Kate Hobson, Service Delivery
Manager at Citizens Advice, says:
Discussions at the consumer liaison
panel offer an insight into the current
priorities and challenges of each
organisation. We have gained a
better understanding of some ofthe attending organisations.
Work with the industry and regulators
to improve customer service and
complaints handling
The relationship between the Citizens
Advice consumer service and the
Energy Saving Advice Line was
formed as a result of the panel.
Suzanne Kuyser, Service Director of
the Trading Standards Institute, adds:
We nd our membership very useful.
Sharing and networking on consumer
issues is invaluable to our planning
and policy work.
International relations
Ombudsman Services is a founding
member of the National Energy
Ombudsman Network (NEON).
This enables us to share good
practice with ombudsman schemes
across Europe and to participate
in international discussions on
consumer affairs.
Chief Ombudsman Lewis Shand
Smith explains: The European Union
(EU) asked us to set up a network
of energy ombudsmen. We work
together and share our experiences
of consumer disputes. Its one of the
few forums where we can talk about
EU legislation, nd out how others
have adopted it and provide advice
for European bodies.
Read all about it
We launched our quarterly
sector newsletters in April 2012.
The newsletters bring together
updates on business processes,
issues and discussion topics, as well
as offering case studies, statistics and
advice. They are aimed at participating
companies and are available to
everyone on our website.
Case studies and advice
To illustrate typical consumer
problems, we publish regular case
studies. We have adopted a creative
and topical approach to capture
interest in the serious messages
we want to get across.
Last summer we issued a case
study to alert people to the dangers
of using their mobile phones abroad;
it received over 3,700 visits on ourwebsite. We followed up the campaign
with a back to school article, to raise
awareness of the increasing number
of complaints from parents whose
children have extremely high bills.
This received over 2,000 visits.
For Halloween, we published a case
study about a buy-to-let nightmare in
which a homebuyer complained about
a haunted house. The story illustrated
how important it is for buyers to be
aware of the limits of their property
survey. Earlier that month we
supported the Citizens Advice Big
Energy Saving Week campaign by
publishing case studies and advice
to help consumers cut utility bills.
For our Christmas campaign we
commissioned a fun animal cartoon,which used the voices of our
employees, to highlight the more
unusual complaints we had handled
during the year.
Participating companies need to
understand what we do and work
effectively with us to resolve disputes.
The better we understand companies,
the better we are at resolving their
customers complaintsEmail @. with your name,
company and email address to subscribe to our newsletters.
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mbudsman Services
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Adding value
We are passionate about consumer
edress and keen to share our views
nd experience of complaints.
articipating in policy debate and
evelopment and responding to
onsultations is a vital part of what
e do.
irector of Policy and
ommunications Susan Fox says:
We have an important role to play inemonstrating the value of alternative
spute resolution, so we regularly
espond to consultations, speak at
vents and provide expert comments
or the media.
olicy highlights
o help contribute to good policy
evelopment and decision making,
e share our complaints handling
xperience. During 2012/13 we
esponded to 35 consultations.
hese included industry-specic
onsultations, such as Ofcoms
roposal to simplify switching
nd Ofgems retail market review,
nd wider consumer protection
onsultations, such as the European
nion (EU) directive on alternative
spute resolution and the Trading
tandards Institute consultation
n consumer codes.
usan says: We respond to
onsultations that affect the industries
e provide redress for, or where we
ave useful evidence or experience
hat can contribute to the debate.
We welcome proposals that increase
rotection for consumers.
Networking
We take the platform at events to give
our views and often brief journalists,
members of parliament and other
organisations on consumer redress.
A good example of this is when Chief
Ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith
spoke at the Building Effective
Markets conference, which considered
developments in the civil justice
system throughout Europe, collective
redress and individual alternativedispute resolution (ADR).
He also spoke on the importance
of trust in business at a round table
event organised by Professions for
Good, and at an Erasmus School
of Law conference on resolving
mass disputes.
Ombudsman Association
To be a member of the Ombudsman
Association the professional
association for ombudsmen and
complaint handlers an organisation
must demonstrate that it is
independent, fair, effective, open
and transparent, and accountable.
Our membership of the association
has recently been revalidated.
We attend the associations network
groups to share experience and learn
good practice from other ombudsman
schemes; these include the private
sector ombudsman group, the
editorial board and interest groups
for communications, HR, IT and law.
Channelling our views
To raise awareness of the
ombudsman schemes we run,
we provide comment for the mediaand interviewees for radio and TV
programmes.
We have featured on the BBC
programme Dont Get Done Get
Dom to talk about energy and
property complaints, we take part
in radio call-in shows to answer
consumers questions and we have
featured in the consumer pages of the
national press, including the Daily Mail
and Readers Digest.
Susan says: We want to raise
awareness of Ombudsman Services
and what we can do to help
consumers, but we dont want
to drum up complaints or cause
unnecessary calls to our contact
centre. Providing the media with
information on consumer stories is a
good way of ensuring our messages
reach the right people at the right
time, when issues are topical and
people are interested.
Enhance the reputation of the company as
an independent and reliable commentator
of effective dispute resolution
Publishing complaints data
We want to share more of the datawe hold on complaints. Our new case
management system will allow us to
access data much more easily.
During 2012/13 we launched our
rst consultation, to seek the views
of companies, regulators and
consumer bodies on the types of
data they wanted to see published.
The consultation received 200 web
visits in the rst week and around 30
responses by the end of the exercise.
Respondents, particularly the energy
sector, engaged in the debate and
supported our proposals.
Susan explains: There is an appetite
for the data we own. Publishing more
of our data means we will share the
learning with more people about the
causes of complaints and how they
are handled. This will help improve
customer service and inform thework of other consumer bodies.
We will publish data quarterly; it will
be available in different formats and
will be held on our website for threeyears. The data will cover the
communications, energy and property
sectors. We will name participating
companies in the energy sector
a radical step that the industry
supports.
Understanding perceptions
We have begun conducting market
research into public and stakeholder
perceptions of ombudsmen in
general and Ombudsman Services
in particular. The surveys will provide
information on the extent to which
members of the public know about
ombudsmen and will give feedback
on our performance from participating
companies and key stakeholders.
We have an important role to play in
demonstrating the value of alternative
dispute resolution, so we regularly respond
to consultations, speak at events and
provide expert comments for the media
Here is a sample of our
policy work:
We contributed to the development
of the European Union (EU) directive
on alternative dispute resolution
(ADR) and online dispute resolution
(ODR).
We responded to the Law
Commission consultation on unfair
terms in consumer contracts.
We agreed that some of the terms
used in consumer contracts are
difcult to understand and
recommended that the denition
of consumer should be extended
to cover micro businesses.
Proposed contract terms will now
be transparent and in plain English.
A number of the suggestions that
we made in our response to the
principles of how the Regulated
Industries Unit (RIU) should work
have been included in proposalsfor its rst year work plan. These
include the need for partnership
working, evidence based policy
making and a commitment to
share best practice.
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Ready for more
The government wants greater
protection for consumers and aims
to cut the number of disputes that go
to court by providing more accessible,
more affordable forms of redress.
We are keen to help by plugging
the gaps in redress and offering
independent dispute resolution
where currently there is none.
Director of Business DevelopmentSimon Morris says: We have an
important role to play in the future of
consumer redress. Our service offers
excellent value for money and we are
experienced in taking on new sectors.
We can offer a exible service to help
companies increase their customers
condence. Expanding our remit will
make us more resilient but it must not
be to the detriment of our existing
customers growth is, and will
continue to be, controlled.
Building on success
In summer 2012 we were appointed
ombudsman and investigation service
for the governments Green Deal
initiative. With experience of handling
energy and property complaints, we
already covered two of the three areas
of redress required by the Green Deal.
We have a good working relationshipwith the Financial Ombudsman
Service (FOS), which covers the
third area of Green Deal redress
consumer credit. See page 39.
We have recently been appointed
provider of complaints redress for
collective management organisations,
building on our experience of handling
complaints about PRS for Music.
We supported the Department of
Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS),
the Intellectual Property Ofce (IPO)
and the collective management
organisations in developing
new industry codes of conduct.
These codes require the collective
management organisations (which
issue licences, collect royalties and
distribute them to their members) to
provide alternative dispute resolution.
See page 58.
In early 2013 we took on paid for TV
complaints for Sky. We welcomed the
chance to extend our remit and are
encouraging other satellite TVproviders to offer their customers
the same protection. See page 29.
In property, we struck a deal with t he
National Approved Letting Scheme
(NALS) to offer its members access to
redress at competitive rates. Following
the amendment of the Enterprise and
Regulatory Reform Bill, which will in
time require all letting agents to be
members of an ombudsman scheme,
we are expanding our services in the
letting market. We have also recently
extended our service to cover the
management of retirement homes.
See page 49.
New opportunities
Asset based nance is a completely
new area for us and one in which we
can add real value. The Asset Based
Finance Association (ABFA)approached us to supply redress
to its members.
Simon says: Ombudsman Services is
becoming a widely recognised brand.
More companies are realising the
benets of offering an independent
redress scheme to their customers
and are approaching us for a solution.
Rules prevented the Financial
Ombudsman Service (FOS) from
looking at complaints about ABFA
members so we were able to step in
and meet its needs.
A lot of smaller sectors remain without
alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
schemes. We track policy and are in
contact with government bodies and
consumer organisations to understand
movements in the consumer
marketplace.
We have a product to be proud of.
We welcome companies who want to
invest in customer care. Membership
of an ombudsman scheme shows that
a business cares about its customers;
the more services that sign up the
better the protection for consumers.
Seek new areas of business where there
is clear consumer benefit and increased
flexibility and resilience for the company
Being responsive
and sustainable
he challenge for any ombudsman
cheme is to be able to adapt to
uctuations in complaint numbers
uickly, effectively and cost efciently.
We have met this challenge in a
umber of ways.
We have a new planning team,
esponsible for controlling the owf work in the organisation as well
s predicting future workow and
mapping this against our resources.
s a growing business, we need to
make sure that we generate sufcient
nds, not only to run the business
ay to day but to provide funds
o invest in our people and our
frastructure.
This enables us to continue providing
and improving upon a service that
represents good value for money
for our participating companies.
Our pricing policy is a key element in
achieving this.
Director of Corporate Services Richard
Brown says: Our pricing gives us a
exible model that allows us to match
our capacity to demand whilst
providing a sustainable platform
for improved service delivery.
The model we have developed is
attractive to other areas of the private
sector. It is robust, scalable and
provides value for money. It enables
us to develop our business and to
offer an efcient dispute resolution
service.
Ensure the business model is responsive and
sustainable and provides value for money
Our pricing gives us a flexible model that
allows us to match our capacity to demand
whilst providing a sustainable platform for
improved service delivery
Goodbye to Dr Richard Sills
Dr Richard Sills has been at
Ombudsman Services since
its inception. In June 2002 he
helped to set up the Ofce of the
Telecommunications Ombudsman
(Otelo) and became the operations
director when the company opened
for business in January 2003. Over
the next 10 years Dr Sills was lead
ombudsman for communications
and then for energy. He was thecompanys rst director of business
development.
In April 2013 Dr Sills retired from
full duty but will continue providing
support on new business contracts.
To discuss business development opportunities, contact Simon Morris
on 01925 430884 or email [email protected].
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mbudsman Services
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Communications
We resolve complaints
from consumers about
companies that provide
communications services
to the public; this includes
phone and broadband
companies.
We are approved by Ofcom,
the UK communications
industry regulator, under the
Communications Act 2003
as an alternative dispute
resolution service.
10,331complaints resolved in 2012/13
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Next generation
omplaints
We resolved over 10,000
ommunications complaints in
012/13 compared to just over
00 complaints 10 years ago when
e launched. This is no surprise,
ven that consumers are now much
more reliant on their phones and
he internet.
hief Ombudsman Lewis Shand
mith says: We have learned a lot in
he past decade and made signicant
hanges to our service, which will help
s to deal with the next generation of
omplaints.
he communications industry
he growing dependence on phone
nd broadband services, both for
onsumers and small businesses,
means that the consequences can
e serious when a service is lost.
ast year, uSwitch reported that
roadband was becoming as
mportant to peoples lives as
ater and electricity.
mbudsman Sarah Daniel says:
n the early days complaints
ere about landlines and dial up.
ow consumers have multipleevices for use on the move,
uch as smartphones, tablets
nd dongles, as well as t raditional
ndlines and broadband services.
hese devices affect all aspects of
ur lives, from keeping in touch to
atching television.
We understand the impact on
consumers when things
go wrong and how important it is
to resolve issues quickly and well.
We support measures to improve
the efciency and consistency of
complaint handling across the
industry.
Following its review of alternative
dispute resolution (ADR) schemes,
the regulator Ofcom issued a set
of decision making principles toensure a standardised approach
to resolving consumer disputes
in the communications industry.
We welcome any guidance that
improves the customer experience
for all consumers.
Sarah says: Ofcom recognised the
work we have been doing to resolve
consumer complaints and decided
to continue its approval of our service.
As there is more than one ADR scheme
in the communications sector, it is
crucial that there is consistency
for customers. We believe the new
guidelines are an important step
in improving the way that
communications complaints
are handled.
Trends
The new data roaming rules that cameinto force in July 2010 seem to have
had an effect on complaint numbers,
as fewer people are complaining
about unexpectedly high bills after
trips abroad.
However, there is a growing number
of complaints from parents whose
children have been given contract
phones to use.
Sarah says: We are aware that mobile
phone companies do not normally
allow customers to cap their usage
and that the customer is ultimately
responsible for how they use the
phone. However, some complainants
tell us the company led them to
believe that they would be able tomonitor the usage far more closely
than is actually the case.
Companies should avoid over
promising what customers can do to
manage their usage. In many cases,
parents would be better advised to
purchase pay-as-you-go phones for
their children if they want to limit their
usage.
The growing popularity and use of
smart phones presents opportunities,
but also new challenges, for mobile
phone companies. Customers are
using their mobile devices more and
more and their expectations of the
services offered by mobile phone
companies are increasing.
Sarah says: Customers need
more help operating mobile phones.
Losing a handset is potentiallytraumatic because of what is stored
on the device, such as music,
photographs and videos. Customer
service representatives need to be
able to answer queries and be
sensitive to a customers problems.
Communications overview
Emerging issues
Throughout 2012/13 national media
reported on communicationscompanies increasing prices during
xed term contracts. Ofcom ran a
consultation on whether consumers
needed additional protection from
price rises. It is our view that
consumers should be given the
right to cancel their contract without
penalty if the service provider
proposes to increase the in-contract
price. This option appears to balance
the needs of the companies to
increase the cost of a tariff while
protecting the rights of the consumer.
We have seen an increase in
complaints from customers who say
they have not received handsets
ordered from mobile phone providers.
We published guidance on these
complaints in our April newsletter.
Sarah explains: If a customer does
not receive a handset as expectedthen we consider it reasonable, in t he
rst instance, for them to contact the
communications provider to ask
whether it was delivered. We would
expect the provider to investigate.
If the courier concludes that the
handset was delivered then we would,
in most cases, expect the customer to
try to trace the delivery.
Expanding remit
We have expanded our remit to
provide dispute resolution for paid forTV. With phone lines and broadband
often linked to televisions, it has
become increasingly difcult to see
where a complaint starts and nishes.
Now all services can be covered,
making it fairer for the consumer
and easier for the company.
Lewis says: We are pleased that
companies see the value of what
we do and are choosing to place
additional products and services
within our jurisdiction. It is a positive
step towards greater consumer
protection.
We understand the impact on consumers when things go
wrong and how important it is to resolve issues quickly and well.
We support measures to improve the efficiency and consistency
of complaint handling across the industry
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mbudsman Services
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ustomer service
he level of customer service
ffered by companies remains a
gnicant driver of dissatisfaction.
uring 2012/13 over a third of
ommunications complaints related
o customer service. We see a large
umber of cases where the company
as misinterpreted the complaint and
ot addressed the issues that the
omplainant raised. In some cases,
he complaint has not been fullyvestigated and when we review it
e can nd a rapid solution. Common
xamples include the company not
locating a payment to an account
r customers not fully understanding
heir bills.
mbudsman Jon Lenton says:
By speaking more to complainants
nd companies, we have a better
nderstanding of what has led to
he dispute and how to resolve it.
We would encourage companies
o take the same approach.
Service and equipment
Problems occur when customers are
unable to get a reliable mobile phone
signal at home, or wherever they
spend most of their t ime. We welcome
innovations such as the provision of
signal boosting equipment to
customers in order to give them
full use of mobile services.
Contracts
In December 2011 Ofcom banned
communications providers from selling
contracts that automatically roll over
into a new contract period at the end
of the minimum term. In 2012
providers were required to move
existing customers off such contracts.
We have dealt with a number of cases
where the complainant has been
unhappy with how their provider has
interpreted Ofcoms regulations and in
some of the cases we have required
that companies release customers
from contracts.
Communications complaint types
Case study: Technical line fault
The consumers telephone line developed a fault. The company could not
resolve the problem, as it was located in an underground cable. The company
decided to provide the telephone line over ground. It arranged for new
telegraph poles to be installed to allow it to deliver the new telephone line.
The company then arranged for an engineer to visit the consumers home
to connect the line. This is where the problems started. On several occasions
the company sent a fault engineer to the property, but they did not have the
necessary equipment to complete the work required. The engineer informed
the consumer that they needed an installation engineer not a fault engineer.
The consumer informed the company but it repeatedly sent a fault engineer.
When we reviewed the complaint it seemed clear that the company needed
to arrange an installation engineer. We asked the company to arrange this,
and within a week the line was working. The company agreed a goodwill
payment to recognise the inconvenience caused to the complainant because
of the delays in completing the work.
Complaint types
37% Quality ofcustomer service
21% Billing anddisputed charges
20% Service
17% Contractissues
4% Equipment
1% Security andother
ase study: Contract dispute
The consumer said they had entered into a mobile phone contract and
understood the charges would be 48 per month over the course of the
24 month contract. The company, however, stated that the cost of the
contract was 48 per month for the rst 12 months and 203 per month
for following 12 months.
We reviewed the case. The key piece of evidence was the copy of the
contract which the complainant had signed. The contract stated that the
cost of the service would be 48 per month. There was no reference to this
being a discounted offer for a limited period or that the price would increase
to 203 per month after 12 months. The contract therefore supported the
complainants view that they had been sold the service o n the basis that
t would cost 48 per month over the course of the full 24 month term.
We required the company to ensure the package charge was reduced to
48 per month for the nal 12 months of the contract.
I am grateful for your help
and the time you have taken
to look into this matter.
Customer testimonial
Case study:
An appropriate resolution
The company sold the consumer a
faulty telephone system. There were
problems with the handset, the
voicemail and transferring calls.
The consumer reported the
problems to the company but it
was unable to provide a solution.
Within its case le, the company
acknowledged that the consumerhad experienced problems and it
offered to continue to provide help.
We did not feel this was
appropriate, as the company had
made a number of attempts to
resolve the problems and had
failed. The consumer obtained a
quote from a third party company
who they had asked to review
the issue. We passed the quote
to the company and suggested it
should pay the amount quoted to
resolve the case. The company
agreed and the case was closed as
a mutually acceptable settlement.
At BT were really proud to be able to offer our customers first
class access to alternative dispute resolution. We have been using
Ombudsman Services since the start and throughout we have worked
collaboratively with it to resolve issues and get the best outcome.
It really is a balanced approach that considers both sides of the
story. Ombudsman Services honesty and integrity in saying it as it is,
even when difficult, has been invaluable to us and we have changed
process and procedure in several areas to make things better.
BT, Brenda Cooke, Customer Dispute Resolution
I am most impressed with the service you have given me.
Your correspondence has been well written and to the point,
and agreement has been reached in a speedy manner.
All very professional. Thank you.
Customer testimonial
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Reasons we cannot accept a
complaint about a participating
company
The main reason we cannot accept a
case about a participating company is
because the consumer has not given
the company a reasonable opportunity
to resolve their complaint. We work
with these complainants to give them
advice and signpost them to the
appropriate organisation.
Other reasons that we cannot accept
a complaint include the consumer
waiting over nine months to contact
us after reporting the issue to the
service provider, or waiting more than
12 months to report the problem.
These account for less than 1% of
cases that are outside our terms of
reference.
The complaints we resolved
31% Resolved usingearly resolution andmutually acceptable
settlement
69% Resolved followinginvestigation
During 2012/13 we resolved more
than 10,000 communications
complaints.
We resolved 31% of complaints
using early resolution and mutually
acceptable settlement. This is where
we contact both parties, preferably by
phone, to discuss the complaint and
its resolution and try to reach
agreement.
The remaining 69% of the complaintsrequired further investigation, where
we request a case le from the
participating company and issue
a report.
Companies have eight weeks to resolve a complaint, after which their customer
can complain to us. In line with previous years, the majority (81%) of complaints
we accepted were because eight weeks had elapsed without resolution.
Sometimes a company provides a nal response or deadlock letter, within the
eight week period, which states that it will no longer be considering the
complaint. The complainant can then bring t heir complaint to us. We accepted
16% of complaints because the company issued a deadlock letter.
Where appropriate, an ombudsman may use discretion to accept a complaint
that is outside of our terms of reference. For example, a consumer must
complain to us within nine months of rst complaining to the service provider.
If the complainant was unable to contact us sooner, perhaps because of serious
illness, we may accept their case. We accepted 3% of complaints using
ombudsmans discretion.
Reasons we accept a complaint
Awards
Both 51%
Financial 13%
Non-nancial 21%
None 15%
To resolve a complaint we can require
a participating company to provide a
nancial award, to return the customer
to the position they were in before the
problem occurred or to acknowledge
a shortfall in customer service. We can
also require a non-nancial remedy
such as an apology, an explanation,
a service or some practical action.
If we nd the company is not at
fault and has acted appropriately,
we may decide that no furtheraction is required.
If the complainant accepts our
resolution, it is binding on the
participating company, which then
has 28 days to implement the remedy.
During 2012/13 we required
companies to provide both a nancial
award and a non-nancial remedy in
51% of cases. We required a nancial
only award in 13% of cases and a
non-nancial only remedy in 21% of
cases. We required no further action
in 15% of cases.
Communications at a glance
umber of
ommunication companies
433At the time of publication we had 433
communications companies signed up
to our service. We handle complaints
about a range of services, including
landline telephones, broadband, WiFi,
SMS texting services and satellite
television. We also deal with certain
other services and products for people
with disabilities, including text relay
and free directory enquiries.
nside and outside our terms of reference
Approximately 20% of the new
contacts we received during2012/13 were within our terms of
reference; the rest were outside our
terms of reference. Of those
contacts that were outside our terms
of reference, 79% were premature
and likely to return, 13% related to
companies or sectors that we do not
currently cover and 8% were general
enquiries and literature requests.
20%Inside terms of reference
80%Outside terms of reference
79%Premature
13%Companies or sectors that
we do not currently cover
8%General enquiries and
literature requests
umber of new contacts
71,117
47%Written contacts
53%Telephone contacts
We responded to 71,117 new
communications contacts during
2012/13, an average of 284 per
working day, which is similar to the
previous year. The gure does not
include subsequent contacts about
the same case.
Just over half (53%) of the consumers
who contacted us for the rst time
used a telephone. Of the 33,763
written contacts, 79% were emails
and online forms, 21% were letters
and fewer than 1% were faxes.
Unresolved after eight weeks 81%
Deadlock 16%
Ombudsmans discretion 3%
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mbudsman Services
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Working with participating
ompanies
We are keen to work with participating
ompanies to tackle the issues that
ause customer complaints, so we
old regular meetings with companies
nd publish newsletters, case studies
nd advice.
ustomer service is the most common
omplaint about communications
uppliers, so we advise participatingompanies to communicate clearly
ith their customers and keep them
formed. They should call their
ustomers back, respond to their
tters, explain if there is a delay and,
mportantly, do what they say they are
oing to do.
mbudsman Jon Lenton says:
Many cases are about a
raightforward issue, perhaps a
sputed bill or line fault, which
scalates because the issue is not
andled effectively. When the case
eaches us, we not only try to resolve
he complaint quickly, we try to explain
ow it could have been resolved
arlier, before reaching us.
Working with the regulator
We have regular meetings with Ofcom
to highlight trends and issues, to
discuss performance and to give
updates on changes to our business.
We liaised with Ofcom on our
proposals for remedy implementation,
to ensure there is consistency in the
way we resolve complaints.
We work with participating companies
to sort out systematic issues, such asfailure to provide remedies or the
querying of case acceptances. If the
issues persist we report the company
to the regulator.
Responding to consultations
During 2012/13 we responded to
ve consultations that related to the
communications industry. For
example, when Ofcom proposed
a set of measures to make changing
broadband and landline providers
simpler and more reliable, it was
our view that the proposals would
effectively tackle a number of
switching issues, but not all.
We also provided comments on the
communications consumer panel draft
work plan for the 2012/13 nancial
year. Policy Manager Mark Glover
says: The panel had concerns that
consumers may not have the skills,
condence, time or persistence to
pursue their complaints. We explained
that the process and infrastructure we
have developed overcomes this issue;
our contact centre and literature are
easy to use and accessible, and help
to level the playing eld betweenconsumers and participating
companies.
Case studies
We handled an enquiry about a
student who had his subscriber
identity module (SIM card) stolen
while charging his phone at school.
The student told us he hadnt noticed
the theft until a month later when he
received a high bill. After investigating
the case, we found that the student
was liable for the bill because he
hadnt reported the incident to his
communications provider within 24
hours, which his contract required.
To help other consumers avoid similar
situations, we published a school boy
error case study on our website.
During one of the wettest summers on
record, we urged consumers to takecare when using their mobiles abroad.
We published a directory of dangers
to help consumers avoid being hit with
unexpectedly high bills, by knowing
how to use their phone abroad and
understanding the costs involved.
Director of Policy and
Communications Susan Fox explains:
We wanted to warn people of the
dangers of data consumption, as
many people dont realise how much
data they use when downloading
music or video content.
Sharing the learning
Many cases are about a straightforwardssue, perhaps a disputed bill or line fault,
which escalates because the issue is not
handled effectively. When the case reaches
us, we not only try to resolve the complaint
quickly, we try to explain how it could have
been resolved earlier, before reaching us
BSkyB has been affiliated to Ombudsman Services since its
inception as Otelo. In that time there has been extensive growth
across the communications sector and ever-increasing complexity in
terms of products and choice available to consumers. The industry
has embraced these changes and Ombudsman Service has moved
with it, supporting consumers, maintaining close engagement with its
participating companies and providing an independent view based
on common sense and fairness.
BSkyB, Alistair Hosie, Operational Compliance Manager
In the media
We work with to the media to
promote our message to consumers.
Our coverage included a Moneywise
magazine article on how to complain
about xed price phone contracts and
a Computer Active article on phone
complaints. We are often invited on
regional radio shows to talk about
communications complaints and
answer callers questions.
Ombudsman Jon Lenton spoke on
BBC Radio York about switching
complaints. He explained that
companies are required to inform their
customers of any transfer requests, he
talked about the minimum standards
of customer service required of
suppliers and he explained when and
how complainants should contact
Ombudsman Services.
Jon says: It is great we have the
opportunity to comment on topical
issues and help a wide audience
understand what they are entitled to.
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mbudsman Services
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Energy
We resolve complaints
from consumers about
energy (gas and
electricity) companies.
We are approved by
Ofgem, the UK gas and
electricity regulator,
under the Consumers
Estate Agents and
Redress Act 2008.
8,768complaints resolved in 2012/13
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Record year
or energy
omplaints
We handled a record number of
nergy complaints during 2012/13,
esolving 8,768 complaints,
3% more than the previous year.
hief Ombudsman Lewis Shand
mith says: The rise in complaints iso surprise given the widely publicised
sues in the energy industry and
reater understanding of what to do
things go wrong. We are actively
upporting solutions to improve
omplaint handling and hope to see
he number of complaints decrease.
he energy industry
While news of energy price rises
nd regulatory nes cannot be
nored, the industry has taken some
ositive steps to improve the market
or consumers.
uring 2012/13 we welcomed
fgems proposals to reform the
dustry, to enable customers to better
nderstand what is on offer and more
asily choose the right supplier and
est deal for them.
We also submitted a detailed response
to the regulators retail market review,
which proposed to extend the
protection that is currently afforded to
micro businesses to small businesses.
Lewis says: We welcome the
simplication of tariffs for domestic
customers and share Ofgems view
that it is important that small
businesses are able to access
independent redress outside the court
process that is both quick and costeffective. We were pleased to have
our contribution recognised the retail
market review proposals document
stated we had been very useful in
identifying the key issues.
In addition to these reforms, we have
been working with Ofgem to
understand the proposed new licence
conditions that stem from its voluntary
standards of conduct. We look at
supplier responsibilities as a matter
of course so the new conditions
are unlikely to cause an increase
in complaints.
Ombudsman Debra Vaughan-Massey
explains: Regardless of whether
standards of conduct are expected or
required, we always take the principles
of customer service and best practice
into consideration when we look at
complaints.
Trends
Energy companies are getting better
at applying the billing code to ensure
consumers receive fair treatment. As a
general rule, the domestic back billing
code prevents suppliers from billing a
consumer for previously unbilled
energy more than a year old if a catch
up bill is issued because of supplier
fault. Domestic back billing complaints
remain at a steady level but the nature
of these complaints has changed.
Debra explains: Consumers usually
bring their complaint to us because
they disagree with t he suppliers
decision that the code does not apply;
they feel the code has been applied
incorrectly or they simply want money
in the hand rather than charges
withdrawn. More often than not,
the supplier has already taken into
consideration the back billing code
and withdrawn charges if appropriate.
Compliance with the code is high so
our investigations look at nuances that
we can feed back to Energy UK and
the companies, to help develop the
code further. We hope to play a similar
role in the development of the micro
business back billing code.
Emerging issues
Sometimes energy suppliers useindependent brokers to sell their
contracts. They are responsible for
the broker and any complaints about
it. We have noticed an increase in
complaints about authorised broker
sales.
A common complaint is that the
recorded part of a phone sale only
includes enough information to
demonstrate acceptance of the
contract. Yet complainants say offers
or information discussed and agreed
before the recording are not included
in the contract.
Energy overview
This is often found when the recorded
contract script is read so fast that it is
almost impossible to determine what
details are included in the contract.
Suppliers rely on the information
provided by the broker to set up the
contract and often that is a short call
recording. Some suppliers will
renegotiate or release contracts if it is
clear a customer is unhappy with the
actions of the broker but greater
awareness of the sales chat before
the recording and the speed ofdelivery is needed
We have alerted Trading Standards to
the issue and are working with Ofgem
and participating companies to see
what can be done.
Unless a provider takes responsibility
for the brokers actions, there is no
protection for the consumer.
Debra says: We strongly encourage
companies to move away from
brokers they cannot trust as it
impacts on their reputation.
We have also seen more claims
management companies target
energy consumers, offering to
win compensation from energysuppliers for a fee. Consumers have
a right to free, independent redress
and we actively discourage them
from paying for such services.
When we became aware of the issue
we published a statement on our
website and used Twitter to alert
consumers to the fact that redress
is free. Our chief ombudsman talked
about the issue on regional radio,
dismissing the claim that most
consumers are entitled to
compensation, as some claims
companies suggest. We have
asked energy suppliers to spread
the message that redress is free and
to signpost consumers to us if theyare unable to resolve their complaint.
We have also raised the issue with
our consumer liaison panel.
The Green Deal
In 2012 we won the bid to provide the ombudsman and investigation service
for the governments new Green Deal initiative. The Green Deal enables
homeowners and businesses to implement energy efciency improvements
at little or no upfront cost, with payment recouped through customers energy
bills. We are able to handle complaints about Green Deal providers who
include energy suppliers, construction groups and installers. We can also
handle complaints about property sellers or landlords who fail to disclose key
information about Green Deal plans.
Ombudsman John Baguley has been responsible for introducing the Green
Deal to our service and managing t