FOS to hire independent reviewer in wake of Channel 4 investigation

Responding to letter from Treasury Committee chair Nicky Morgan

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is to appoint an independent reviewer to consider issues raised in the recently broadcast Channel 4 Dispatches investigation, the body's chief executive Caroline Wayman has revealed.

Wayman said the FOS had appointed the reviewer so it could "better understand and address the concerns" raised by Dispatches. Wayman was responding to a letter from Treasury Committee chair Nicky Morgan. Morgan asked Wayman to address issues highlighted in an investigation by the Channel 4 programme, aired on 12 March, which accused the body of undertraining and pressuring its staff to 'churn out' caseloads. "We feel very strongly the concerns voiced in the programme do not give a fair impression of the FOS when seen against the overall breadth and context of our work," said Wayman.  ...