Mrs G instructed the service provider to act for her lender in respect of a remortgage of her property.
The remortgage completed, but Mrs G had a number of concerns, both in terms of communications and the time taken to complete her remortgage.
Mrs G raised a number of concerns with the service provider, including:
Poor communication;
Lack of responses; and
Delay in sending her completion funds.
The service provider responded to Mrs G’s complaint and accepted that there were some issues with their service in terms of both communication and delay. The firm offered a small remedy to reflect the interest lost by Mrs G.
Mrs G was unhappy with the remedy offered and so escalated her complaint to LeO, as she wanted additional compensation.
Mrs G’s complaint was reviewed on receipt. As the service provider’s complaints handling was reasonable, as they had accepted a service failing and as they had made an offer, the case was passed to Early Resolution.
When the case was reviewed, the team took the view that the remedy offered did not properly reflect the emotional impact of the service failings on Mrs G. The Early Resolution team proposed increasing the overall remedy to £50 to recognise the emotional impact, as the failing was nevertheless very short-lived.
The service provider agreed to make the increased offer, and LeO explained to Mrs G why that offer was reasonable. Mrs G accepted the explanation and remedy, and her complaints were resolved by an agreed outcome.
As the case was resolved by the Early Resolution Team, and the service provider’s complaints handling was reasonable, no case fee was payable.
It is more likely that a complaint will be suitable for Early Resolution when a service provider’s complaints handling is in line with their procedure, and they recognise a service failing.
Service providers should always consider the potential emotional effects of any service failing when proposing a remedy.
