The review aims to improve the workings of the Ombudsman with its key partners and consumers and will assist in setting out its agenda for the future.
The key themes of the review will be how open and accessible it is, with the results published within six months.
Lord Hunt said: “Over half a million consumers and thousands of businesses of all sizes have enquiries and complaints dealt with by the FOS every year. It therefore has a substantial impact on the lives of all kinds of people across the UK.
“The way in which the Ombudsman connects with its customers and stakeholders is therefore crucially important to how it performs its functions. I very much look forward to leading this independent review of the relationship between the Ombudsman and the outside world – and investigating, in dialogue with a wide variety of stakeholders, how that relationship, or network of relationships, can and should evolve.”
Richard Fox, chief executive of the Society of Mortgage Professionals, welcomed the review and suggested that the Ombudsman was set to become a greater force in the mortgage industry.
“I welcome the review and the more it shares about its decisions, the better. Being more open in its judgements will help brokers understand more as all decisions it makes are part of a broker’s overall experience.
“I’ve heard that the Ombudsman is thinking it will be taking more cases next year and while it is scaling back in some areas, it is recruiting in its mortgage division. It will be concentrating on areas such as advice and affordability, so brokers need to know its thinking.”
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