When you have a beef with your retail bank, credit provider or insurance policy or have a grievance against SARS or your pension fund, and whether you are an individual or a business, think of calling the appropriate ombud to help you resolve the issue.
An ombudsperson, ombudsman or ombudswoman, and sometimes not referred to as an ombud at all, like the pension funds adjudicator, is an impartial person or office who will investigate any complaint a consumer, client or customer may have made against a public or private institution falling under their authority, mandate or membership.
KwaZulu Natal-based PGPS Attorneys says: “An ombuds seek to resolve disputes (to the benefit of all parties) fairly, efficiently, and cost-effectively by acting as mediators between complainants and the entity being complained about.” Many have the power to make binding “determinations”. Most are free to complainants.
There are many ombuds in South Africa, some limited to a specific sector and some to a specific entity – often institutions like universities, municipalities and media companies have their own internal ombud. Some are statutory and their findings are legally binding, whereas the non-statutory kind’s findings can issue only recommendations to the parties involved in a dispute.
There are too many ombuds to list them all here but, in particular, bear in mind those ombuds with a wider remit than just one institution or industry player. There has, however, been some consolidation among organs in dispute resolution in the financial sector, as I wrote recently.
One of the offices, which will be incorporated into the new financial services ombuds structure, is the credit ombud, which presented its second-last individual annual report this week for the 2022 financial year.
In reflecting on the past year ending in December 2022, the annual report states that the Credit Ombud received 30 408 calls to its Contact Centre. A total of 17 212 general enquiries were recorded and 3 645 disputes were opened. Over the year, it closed 3 643 disputes.
“There was a significant improvement in the average number of days to close a case from 44 to 33 days. Overall, these numbers reflect a decline compared to the previous year, although the indication is that we are back to similar numbers from before the pandemic,” it stated.
The top three general enquiry types by category, which make up close to 77% of the complaints received in 2022, were default listings, complaints against credit granters and against debt councillors. Most disputes closed by jurisdiction were statements of accounts (29.75%), consumer complaints not upheld (35.62%) and insufficient or incomplete credit information (10.46%).
The report does, however, mention that only 67% of the statement of account cases were found in the favour of the consumer. The matters pertained to the closure of accounts, the sale of non-authorised products or the allocation of payments, to name a few.
As you can see, how well you present your complaint and your side of the story to an ombud will impact your chances of a successful outcome, so specific legal or financial advice from an expert is probably not a bad idea, as PGPS Attorneys has advised, especially if we are talking vast amounts and severe misconduct.
But for the smaller fry, the process is pretty simple – agents at the call centre are equipped to assist aggrieved consumers to lodge their complaints in the way required. But part of the ombuds mandate is to promote financial literacy and awareness, so there is plenty of information available on their website for self-education, but every situation is different. With the cross-selling of products and services across banking and insurance and credit providers, the water has become murky and difficult for consumers to even understand or communicate. Hopefully, the amalgamation of the credit, banking, short-term insurance, long-term insurance and pension fund adjudicator offices will close some of the cracks and provide better protection to vulnerable consumers.
In the meantime, if you have a credit complaint or query, reach out to the Credit Ombudsman of South Africa at creditombud.org.za; 0861 662 837; or [email protected]. It is probably a good first and free port of call.
PERSONAL FINANCE