Ombudsmen
This page contains the following information about ombudsmen:
What they are
How ombudsmen work
Types of ombudsmen in the UK
Remedies available
Research
What they are
Ombudsmen investigate and resolve complaints about organisations and government bodies. They also encourage good practice in the way complaints are handled. There are two main types of ombudsmen:
- public sector ombudsmen, who look at complaints about local councils, government departments and the NHS
- private sector ombudsmen, who look at complaints about a range of businesses such as banks and insurers, telecommunication providers, estate agents
This is not such a clear distinction as it once was, as many ‘private sector’ ombudsmen have a statutory basis, and are approved by the regulator for their sector, or by the relevant government department.
Most ombudsmen in Britain and Ireland are members of the British and Irish Ombudsman Association (BIOA). Not all are - some are associate members. For details of what this means for you, have a look at An ombudsman overview.
Full voting members of BIOA meet the following criteria:
- They are independent of the bodies they investigate
- They are free to complainants
- They are well publicised by the organisations they investigate
- Their procedures should be easy and straightforward to understand and to use
- Either the organisations should be legally bound to follow their decisions, or there should be a ‘reasonable expectation’ that they will do so
top
How ombudsmen work
Each ombudsman service has its own procedures and timescales. Generally, they can only consider a complaint once it has been through the internal complaints procedure of the organisation complained about.
There are also time limits; most ombudsmen require the complainant to approach the ombudsman within this time limit (usually six or twelve months).
Access and advice
Ombudsmen are expected to be user-friendly and help complainants in making their complaint. Many of them run helplines, and will discuss a problem on the phone informally before a formal complaint is made. Some of them will fill in a complaint form on your behalf, and send it to you to check and sign.
However, ombudsmen do not give advice. It’s worth getting independent advice before making a complaint to an ombudsman, and talking about whether this is the best way to try to resolve a dispute. There may be other options, such as going to a tribunal, or making a court application, which you should also think about. Some of these may also have deadlines, so you need to make sure you are not restricting your choices by going down a particular complaints route.
Most ombudsmen have special services to help disabled consumers and those who are not fluent in English. Advisers can also make a complaint on behalf of a client, with the client's permission. Legal Aid is available for advice and assistance in preparing a complaint for an ombudsman.
Process
Ombudsmen use an inquisitorial method of dispute resolution; this means that the ombudsman is responsible for asking questions to both sides in order to establish the truth of the situation. This is unlike the procedure in arbitration and litigation, which is adversarial; this means that each side is responsible for presenting their own case, and the judge or arbitrator has to decide between them.
The ombudsman's inquisitorial approach means that you do not have to argue your own case, or put together a lot of evidence. You will make your complaint to the ombudsman, and the ombudsman staff will investigate what happened. This may involve meeting you or talking to you on the phone. It may also involve interviewing staff at the organisation you are complaining about, and requesting copies of documents, files, and records.
Most ombudsmen attempt to resolve complaints informally at first. Usually this involves helping both side try to reach an agreement that resolves the matter. In some ombudsman services, such as the Financial Ombudsman Service, it is up to you whether or not to accept an agreement reached through informal dispute resolution. If you are unhappy with the proposals, you can ask the ombudsman to continue the investigation, and make a recommendation. In other ombudsman services, such as the Local Government Ombudsman, it is up to the ombudsman to decide whether the proposed solution is appropriate. If the ombudsman caseworker believes that the remedy is fair, then he or she can close the case at this point. You still have the right to take your original complaint to the courts if you are not happy with the ombudsman decision.
top
Types of ombudsmen in the UK
Public sector ombudsmen
In most cases, public sector ombudsmen can only review how a decision was made. They are looking for ‘maladministration’ (bad administrative practice) in the decision-making, or some kind of service failure. They also need to find that the individual complaining suffered an injustice as a result. Examples of maladministration by a government department or local authority include:
- not following its own policies or procedures
- rudeness
- delay in taking action
- failing to take action
- treating a complainant unfairly in relation to others
- giving wrong or misleading information
- administrative mishandling
For more information see What is maladministration?.
Not all public sector ombudsmen are restricted to investigating maladministration. For example, the Health Service Ombudsman can investigate complaints about poor treatment or service provided through the NHS in England, and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman can investigate whether any public body in Scotland provided a poor service, delivered a service badly, or failed to provide a service.
Ombudsmen in the public sector are funded by taxpayers.
The key public sector ombudsmen in the UK are:
- Health Service Ombudsman for England
- Local Government Ombudsman for England
- Northern Ireland Ombudsman
- Parliamentary Ombudsman for England
- Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
- Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
They deal with complaints from individuals affected by the decisions of public bodies such as government departments, local authorities and the National Health Service. For details about each scheme, follow the link on the right of this page.
Private sector ombudsmen
The private sector ombudsmen are not restricted to 'maladministration'. They can generally consider whether a decision taken by an organisation was fair and reasonable, taking into account standards of good practice within the industry or profession.
Private sector ombudsmen are funded by the industry or profession they cover. However, to be a full voting member of BIOA, they need to have a system to demonstrate that they are still independent in their procedures and their decision-making. This may involve having an independent board of trustees.
There are a number of 'hybrid' schemes covering private sector industries, but which are set up by government legislation, including the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Housing Ombudsman. Many ‘private’ ombudsmen schemes are approved by regulators or government departments, and organisations in that sector are required by law to be a member of an approved scheme. For example, all energy providers are required to be members of the Energy Ombudsman which is approved by the regulator Ofgem.
Other relevant ombudsmen
See An ombudsman overview for a list of all the main ombudsman-type schemes in the UK, and links to their websites.
top
Remedies available
An ombudsman can recommend or order a range of remedies, including:
- an explanation
- an apology
- a change in practice
- out of pocket expenses
- compensation
They can also ask an organisation or government department to review complaints that involve similar issues. This is one of the main advantages of public sector ombudsmen. It means that a sample complaint about housing benefit payment, for example, can result in a review of the whole system, which will improve things for many other people who have not yet approached the ombudsman. In recent years reports by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on Tax Credit overpayments and the cost of Continuing Care have resulted in major changes to the way these issues have been dealt with nationally.
All ombudsmen can award or recommend financial compensation, within limits. This is often significantly lower than the level of compensation which would be ordered by a court, and this should be taken into account when deciding how best to resolve a dispute.
Examples of remedies available for particular cases are published in the case digests on the websites of most ombudsmen services or in their annual reports. The Local Government Ombudsman also publishes specific guidance on remedies; see the ADR Directory on this site for website addresses.
Compliance
The organisations covered by each of the public sector ombudsmen are required to co-operate with the ombudsman's investigations, but any recommendations made are not binding; this means that the organisation or government department can refuse to do what the ombudsman recommends. In recent years there have been a number of arguments between the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the government about whether or not to comply with her recommendations. You can read more about this in ADR Update 25.
Awards made by the private sector ombudsmen are binding through membership of the ombudsman scheme; this means that a company could lose its membership if it doesn't comply. Decisions by the Financial Ombudsman Service are directly enforceable in court. Overall, however, compliance with ombudsman determinations in both public and private sectors is very high.
Appeals
There is no appeal against an ombudsman's decision. However, all ombudsman schemes have their own complaints process if you are not happy with the way they have dealt with your case. Some also have an independent reviewer who will investigate complaints about their procedures, but not complaints about the content of a decision. You can also challenge ombudsmen which investigate public bodies in court through judicial review. For more information about this option, have a look at the Judicial Review guidance on the courts service website.
top
Research
Information on research into ombudsmen can be found in ADR Research.
top
August 2009
