Recommendation 168

The Dispute Resolution (DISP) rules dictating how firms and the Financial Ombudsman Service handle complaints were last reviewed ten years ago. 255 The FCA and FOS acknowledge that: “since then the landscape has changed significantly with several mass redress events and increasing levels of complaints brought by professional representatives.” 256 Several of our witnesses suggested that the FCA should review its dispute rules to address issues such as the precedential value of FOS decisions. 257 The Call for Input indicated that the FOS and FCA were considering amendments to the DISP rules to allow for changes, including allowing the FOS to pause on certain cases to await regulatory input on the interpretation of rules. 258