The section is designed to give quick and easy access to commonly asked questions on a wide range of issues.
The information has been divided into a number of main topics, including how the FOS is funded, how to award redress, handling mortgage endowment complaints, support available for businesses and how the FOS decides on cases.
Questions the FOS has provided answers to include: ‘How do you know what’s going on in the real world?’ to ‘Why should I pay a case fee if the customer loses?’.
David Cresswell, head of communications at the FOS, explained that the FAQ section had been specially designed for small businesses and was based on real-life grillings the FOS had received from mortgage brokers and IFAs when out and about at roadshows.
He said: “We launched the FAQs section to help brokers who need to access information quickly, but don’t have someone to go and get it for them. The FAQ formula is signposted to allow brokers to access the questions they need rather than provide them with a massive bible of practices. Some of the questions are not always that flattering but we wanted to answer the questions brokers actually ask and dispel any myths a broker might have heard about the way we operate.”
Greg Pogonowski, senior consultant at Ample Financial Services, commented: “A lot of these questions, such as paying case fees if a customer loses, have been asked before and continue to be raised because they are not answered properly. However, for intermediaries who are not used to being regulated, I think a FAQ section is a good idea.”
