Speaking at the AFB inaugural dinner, John Gummer MP, chairman of the AFB, told delegates that the FOS needed to change its policy. Gummer drew particular attention to FOS guidelines that suggested firms could be asked to explain their decisions 20 years after they were originally made. He said: “It’s not right that intermediaries should be judged on the regulation of the day, on decisions taken 20 years ago.”
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Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of the FOS, admitted that the role of the organisation had changed, but that intermediaries still needed to improve their record-keeping practices to remain compliant and to avoid complaints.
He explained: “Of all the cases we look at, around a third are found in the favour of the complainant, with a third in favour of the intermediary. This needs to improve.”
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Gummer also urged borrowers to become more aware of their own finances and to take responsibility for any decisions taken.
He added: “We have to recover the attitude towards personal decision making and the first person is the person that gets into debt. However much we make sure we control the way in which people borrow, responsibly, we need a society where the borrower should be responsible for their actions.”
