General insurance, the public interest, and the ombudsman

Document description

It is now nearly three years ago (December 1997) since the Government announced that there would be a new ombudsman scheme for financial services. The rationale for a unified arrangement looks fairly obvious and pretty appealing. A one stop shop for consumers confused by stories of misselling and an industry where distinctions are becoming blurred\; and a consistent service to the industry with the hope of lower unit costs. Disappoint all those personal finance journalists whose stock article for a slow news week was a "How to Complain" story showing six mug-shots of different ombudsmen above a tangled chart. why financial services? But why do financial services as opposed to other services need an ombudsman? Why not grocery, electrical goods, or motor vehicles? I would identify a number of features: First, the fact that financial services are intangible. Buy a TV or a car or a washing machine and you can examine it, shake it, kick it, test it out.