FOS introduces case fees for professional representatives'

From 1 April 2025, the Financial Ombudsman Service (‘FOS’) will be introducing case fees for professional representatives.

In their most recent policy statement FOS have introduced the following changes:

• Professional representatives, such as lawyers, will be charged £250 per case they refer to FOS.
• If the case outcome is in favour of the complainant, £175 will be credited to the professional representative.
• If the case outcome is not in favour of the complainant, the case fee for the financial business the complaint was made against will be reduced from £650 to £475.
• Personal representatives will be able to bring 10 cases to FOS for free each financial year.
• Financial businesses will continue to bring 3 cases to FOS for free each financial year. After that, every subsequent case referred will be chargeable.
• There is a statutory exemption for charities, family members and free advisory organisations.

Complaints made to FOS from the complainants directly remain free.

This approach by FOS lacks consideration for the complainant who will now have to bear the cost of the referral fee of their professional representative making a complaint. It is essentially an issue fee which clients will have to pay.

As a result, many complainants may seek to complain to FOS without the assistance and advice of a professional representative. This could harm their prospects of success.

Due to their wealth of experience in making complaints to FOS, professional representatives can achieve a quick outcome by presenting legal and factual arguments to FOS in a concise and coherent way.

Therefore, anyone thinking of making a complaint to FOS should get in contact with Bell Lax as soon as possible, before the new charges come into effect from 1 April 2025.

For a free no obligation discussion, please contact us on 0121 355 0011 to see how we may be able to help you.