Can a bank ignore the Ombudsman?

[MaryMo]

To cut a long story short.

I had an issue with Lloyds Bank, starting in late August, I escalated the issue to the Ombudsman on October 2nd, on November 9th I received a response from the Ombudsman, they upheld my complaint against Lloyds, and told Lloyds to fix the issue and also pay me compensation.

I accepted the resolution offered by the Ombudsman, but it's been a week and still Lloyds have not responded, they have until November 23rd apparently. I am just wondering if Lloyds can refuse to do what the Ombudsman have asked?

If so what happens next?

Thank you :-)

[Amethyst]

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org....rules_a11.html

Basically, no they can't refuse. The Ombudsman decision is akin to a court judgment and if they don't abide by the ruling you can apply to court for enforcement. If is not unusual for it to take up to 8 weeks for them to act on the Ombudsman's ruling - if the bank have been given a deadline of the 23rd Nov you will need to wait until the 24th before you can make a complaint back to the Ombudsman and to Lloyds.

[MaryMo]

Thank you for confirming that, it's good to know.

Does that mean that there is a good chance they might take another 6 weeks or so past November 23rd to do what to Ombudsman have asked?

[Amethyst]

They should abide by the deadline the Ombudsman has given them, if that is the 23rd ( so 14 days given?) then you should have it by then. If they don't you can ask the ombudsman to give them a nudge.

Don't rely on the money until you have it in hand though.

[MaryMo]

They should abide by the deadline the Ombudsman has given them, if that is the 23rd ( so 14 days given?) then you should have it by then. If they don't you can ask the ombudsman to give them a nudge.

Don't rely on the money until you have it in hand though.

Lovely, thank you for explaining.

This is the first time I've ever gone through the Ombudsman process, so it's all new to me.

Thank you again :-)

[Amethyst]

No worries Well done for getting resolution in your favour btw xxxx It does normally all go to plan once the Ombudsman has issued their ruling and you've accepted it, so don't be worrying too much. There are things you can do to enforce, but you're best waiting until after the deadline given then considering your options.

[MaryMo]

Thank you so much :-)

It has been quite an interesting learning experience to be fair. I am very happy with how the Ombudsman have dealt with it, the adjudicator in charge of my complaint was very fair and efficient.

Lloyds on the other hand have been a total nightmare xx

[MaryMo]

It's only 3 days away from the deadline that the Ombudsman gave, and I still haven't heard anything from Lloyds.

I am just wondering if their will be any consequences for Lloyds if they choose to ignore the deadline?

[2222]

If you complain, The Ombudsman will chivvy them along.

in practice, the bank may be slow, they may forget, but they won't intentionally disobey the ruling. So, you may as well leave it a bit and see what happens.

[MaryMo]

If you complain, The Ombudsman will chivvy them along.

in practice, the bank may be slow, they may forget, but they won't intentionally disobey the ruling. So, you may as well leave it a bit and see what happens.

Thank you :-)

I think that seeing as the deadline is Friday, If I've not heard I will leave it until Monday before getting back in touch.

[MaryMo]

Just a quick update to say that I still haven't heard anything. Today is the deadline day, and it's nearly the close of business. So I am beginning to suspect that they might not respond today.

[Amethyst]

Shame. Ah well, start bugging people about it on Monday. You might get a cheque tmw or Monday if they've posted yesterday or today even. But worth a call to the FOS in the first instance Monday - then a call to the relevant dept at the bank to see what they're doing, then put something in writing to Lloyds with a copy of the Ombudsman's decision asking for an update.

[MaryMo]

I certainly will do that.

I think I might email the CEO of Lloyds, I already did this once when trying to resolve the issue with Lloyds, but another email can't hurt.

I'll keep you posted to the bitter end :-D

[2222]

Just to put some figures on the cost of delay:

If Lloyds owe you say £1000, how much is each day's delay worth to you? If you will just put the £1000 on deposit when you receive it, each day's delay is costing you around 3p. If you are borrowing the money on credit card, it's costing you a lot more - about 60p per day.

As I would just do something stupid like stick the money in my current account, it wouldn't pay me to chase Lloyds at all.

[Amethyst]

Yeah, that'd be nice, but there is actually interest applicable to late Ombudsman ruling payments - think it's 8% PA stat interest - I'd stick to that personally.

Also bear in mind we have no idea what the actual ombudsman ruling was and the reasoning behind it xxx