Firstly, I must point out that the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) is independent in the performance of his statutory functions. I have no role in the day to day workings of the office or in the decisions which he takes.
The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017 prescribes certain time limits for the making of a complaint to the FSPO about the conduct of a financial service provider or a pension provider.
Any complaint made in relation to a “long-term financial service” within the meaning of the Act, must be made to the FSPO within whichever of the following periods is the last to expire:
(i) 6 years from the date of the conduct giving rise to the complaint;
(ii) 3 years from the earlier of the date on which the person making the complaint became aware, or ought reasonably to have become aware, of the conduct giving rise to the complaint;
(iii) such longer period as the Ombudsman may allow where it appears to him or her that there are reasonable grounds for requiring a longer period and that it would be just and equitable, in all the circumstances, to so extend the period.
The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman's Office has advised me that a policy of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) may, in certain circumstances, be considered a “long-term financial service”, within the meaning of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017, if the policy is for a fixed period of five years and one month, or more, or if there is a life assurance element included within the policy benefits. Likewise, if the loan to which the payment protection policy is attached, is fixed in duration for at least at five years and one month, the PPI policy is likely to be considered a “long-term financial service”. In these circumstances the Ombudsman may investigate a complaint where the conduct complaint of occurred during or after 2002, if the complaint is made within the time limits specified by the Act.
The Ombudsman is aware that the time limits governing complaints to the FSPO can be complex. For that reason, every complaint is examined individually by the FSPO, to establish whether it meets the eligibility criteria for investigation, laid down by the governing legislation. This includes a consideration, if a complaint does not otherwise meet the prescribed time limits, as to whether the Ombudsman should use his discretion to extend the time for the making of the complaint, on the basis that there are reasonable grounds to do so and it would be just and equitable in all of the circumstances.
