Enforcing FOS Decisions

Enforcing decisions of the Financial Ombudsman

After a stressful few months complaining to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), you now have a final decision in your favour. You want to celebrate, only to discover the respondent is refusing to pay you. What now?

If you can relate to the above, you’re not alone. Some of our clients have found themselves in the unfortunate circumstance of having a FOS award in their favour, but with a respondent still refusing to pay.

Such a prospect can be enough to make some claimants give up the fight. Despite the fact that there is a remedy available for claimants in the above circumstance, many solicitors have no knowledge of the process involved. Our specialist dispute resolution solicitors at Bell Lax have the relevant knowledge and experience to obtain a court order enabling claimants to enforce FOS decisions.

We can obtain a court order making all the court’s enforcement options available to successful FOS claimants, including charging orders, third party debt orders, and high court enforcement officers.

Some solicitors will insist that you issue a Part 8 Claim before you file the necessary paperwork with the Court. In our experience, this is not always a necessary step to take, and may be a waste of time and costs.

Enforcing a FOS decision through the courts can be complex; a single step out of place, such as a tick in the wrong box, can result in the court returning documentation, leading to more wasted time and costs.

It is possible to enforce a FOS direction or a money award via the courts, and Bell Lax is able to achieve this for our clients with our experience and understanding of the process.

If you have a decision from the Financial Ombudsman but the respondent is not playing ball, we would be keen to chat with you. Please give us a call on 0121 355 0011.