The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has released figures which show a continued increasing trend of complaints against financial services firms. Over half of these are being settled in favour of consumers. It is forecast by industry experts that whilst the majority of complaints are for Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) sales, mortgage claims are set to increase substantially.
This news follows last weeks announcements of a substantial fine against DB Mortgages for irresponsible lending and not treating customers fairly (TCF) Many of the mortgages sold by DB Mortgages were to borrowers who needed sub-prime or specialist lending products such as self-certification mortgages. These were mainly distributed by mortgage packagers and brokers who were paid high levels of commission to sell their products.
Lloyds has also made an allowance of 500 million pounds for redress to many of its mortgage customers after reaching an agreement with the Financial Services Authority (FSA). This has drawn further considerable attention to mortgage claims.
The highest number of complaints made for mortgages which were upheld, was against the Clydesdale Bank. This followed the announcement last year, that it had miscalculated payments due from many of its mortgage borrowers.





