posted 28th March 2024
Is Abby Thomas, head of the Financial Ombudsman Service, trying to deceive Angela Eagle MP and the Treasury Select Committee, or is she not in control of what's going on? Lets find out.
This article will uncover the truth behind the answers Abby Thomas gave to Angela Eagle MP and the Treasury Select Committee, which was held in February this year . At least twenty six of our clients have died whilst waiting for justice, so 'not having the figures to hand', just isn't going to cut it.
Q277. Dame Angela Eagle: I want to ask about fractional timeshares. Could you tell me how many cases there are in your backlog related to fractional timeshares?
Abby Thomas: I do not have here how many cases more than 12 months old relate to fractional timeshares.
This is the second time that Abby Thomas has been questioned by the Treasury Select Committee on this matter. It is rather convenient that yet again she does not have the figures to hand. Our company alone has thousands of cases that stretch back over seven years that we are still waiting for an Ombudsman final decision on.
Q278. Dame Angela Eagle: This goes back six years in terms of compensation and redress. How many of those cases are you dealing with?
Abby Thomas: Over the last three years, we have resolved 5,600 cases in this space. You may be aware that we were subject to a judicial review, which concluded in 2023. Following that, we have issued a further 2,500 views, which is the first stage of our process. We still have approximately a further 1,000 views to issue, which we hope we will do before the end of this financial year—that is, in the next few weeks.
Q278. Our Opinion.
The use of the word “resolve” is extremely misleading. When a decision is made by an investigator this is not a resolution, the problem is not resolved. The case then moves to a Ombudsman for a final decision. It is not clear how many of these 5600 cases relate to mis sold fractional timeshare and whether any relate to mis sold points based timeshare, claims which have been dismissed without any Ombudsman intervention. Is Abby Thomas trying to use the word 'resolve' to massage her figures and deceive Angela Eagle MP?
It is clear from the interview with Abby Thomas that there is a cover-up at the Financial Ombudsman Service, gross negligence in a public office, and corruption. Unless the Financial Ombudsman Service provide transparent figures and data to the TSC, they will continue to be the reason why more victims will pass away while waiting for justice. It is unclear whether or not Abby Thomas really knows what's going on at the FOS. If she does, then she needs to be held to account for her actions. Our experience dealing with the FOS for the last ten years has been nothing short of embarrassing, and under the leadership of Abby Thomas, timeshare matters are still being brushed under the carpet and grossly mismanaged.
FOS employee reviews on Glassdoor
Executive need to be held to account
Employee for more than three years.
The new Executive team are not fit to hold their positions, and those with the power to hold them to account are doing nothing. Investigators are under immense pressure to hit ridiculous weekly closure targets. These are set by an Executive team who have never worked a day in the Investigator role, and have no idea of the realities of how it works. The business has moved to a "performance based pay model", meaning that Investigators have no hope of career progression or bonuses if they fail to hit these targets.
The end result is rushed, sloppy investigations because Investigators are not afforded the time to do the work properly because of these targets. The public, and Investigators (who do care about the work they do) deserve so much better. All the CEO cares about is reducing queues so she looks good for the Treasury Select Commitee. Meanwhile, quality is down, employee morale is at rock-bottom, and we're facing an exodus of skilled case workers who simply can't take the abuse anymore. The service simply isn't fit for purpose at the moment. Advice to Management: Leave. You don't understand or care about the Financial Ombudsman Service or the work we do.
A broken organisation Employee for more than eight years.
The issues within FOS are wide-ranging and systemic and have been made significantly worse by a new Executive who have no experience of running such a organisation. Moreover, anything that could have been seen as a positive at FOS (eg culture) has been completely eroded by this new Executive who have prioritised productivity and headcount reduction at the cost of all other measures. Case progression, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, technical capability, service complaints - all of these (publicly available) metrics have nose dived in the last 12 months.
IT costs have exploded, key projects have not been delivered and the Executive have provided a lot of consultancy jobs for their ‘mates’ whilst those with significant corporate knowledge and experience have been let go. But the Board seems to have lost its teeth (if they ever had them) and are not holding this Executive to account. And as to why the FCA or Treasury Select Committee are not appropriately monitoring the FOS is anyone’s guess…. So my recommendation to anyone thinking of joining this organisation - is to think again!
Advice to Management: Start preparing for the TSC!
We have been front and centre of Club La Costa claims for the last ten years. Many of our CLC Fractional clients are now receiving compensation from the banks that funded their purchases. If you took out a loan with Barclays Partner Finance, Shawbrook Bank, Hitachi, Novuna, First Holiday Finance or Honeycomb Finance, we can help.
Our 100% No Upfront Fee model, means that you pay us nothing unless we win. Contact our team for more information.
