THE OFFSHORE FINANCIAL OMBUDSMAN

About the Ombudsman.

The Offshore Financial Ombudsman was established to preside over OFTA (the Offshore Financial Trade Association), the Self-Regulating Authority for the offshore financial advising industry and to help settle individual disputes between OFTA's members and their clients.

We can consider complaints about a wide range of financial matters – from life insurance to savings and investments.

We are not a regulator ('watchdog') or a trade body or a consumer champion.

Our role is to settle disputes, without taking sides.

We are completely independent - just as a judge would be if you took your complaint to court instead of coming to us.

Our service is free to consumers.

You must complain to the firm first. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, we can look at your case.

Although we resolve the majority of complaints within six months, some cases can take longer, depending on how complex they are.

You do not have to accept any decision we make - you are always free to go to court instead. But if you accept an ombudsman's decision, it is binding on both you and the OFTA member. We cannot give personal advice about financial matters.

The Offshore Financial Ombudsman Service may be able to help if you have a financial complaint you cannot sort out with your:

offshore broker firm, offshore financial adviser who is an OFTA member, offshore financial adviser who is not an OFTA member, insurance firm, investment firm, unit trust company.

The Financial Ombudsman Service was set up to give consumers a free, independent service for resolving disputes with financial advisers and firms in the offshore financial sector.

We can help with most financial complaints about:

· financial and investment advice

· life assurance

· savings plans

· unit trusts and income bonds.

However, we cannot give personal advice about financial matters

and there are some complaints we do not usually deal with, including complaints about:

· what surrender value or with-profits bonus to pay

· the way an investment has performed.

Our job is to look at complaints impartially - and to make what we believe is a fair and balanced decision, based on the facts of each individual case.

If we decide that a financial firm that is a member of OFTA, or an OFTA member financial adviser has acted wrongly and you have lost out as a result, we can tell the firm or adviser how to put things right for you and they must accept our decision.

Generally, our aim is to put you in the position you'd be in if things hadn't gone wrong. This might include our telling the firm to make good your losses. Our decisions are binding on the member firm.

On the other hand, if we think the firm has treated you fairly or is already offering you enough compensation, we will tell you so.

If you have a problem with a financial product or service, you should complain first to the adviser or the firm you think is responsible. This gives them the chance to put things right at an early stage. In many cases, the firm will be able to sort out your problem itself.

The ombudsman service can get involved if:

· An OFTA member adviser, or firm has sent you its final response to your complaint and you remain unhappy.

· If, after eight weeks they have not sent you their final response - and you are not prepared to wait any longer.

Occasionally they may be allowed more time to deal with your complaint. If so, we will tell you.

If you are having difficulty contacting the financial adviser or the firm, or are unsure what to do next, get in touch with us - we may be able to help.

What Happens Next?

Before we can get involved with your complaint, we will need you to fill in our complaint form. (Contact us and we will send you one). The form gives us your personal details and information about your complaint – including what you would like the firm to do to put matters right.

When you receive the complaint form, please complete the details and check that all the information we need is included – for example, your policy number, or OFTA ADR policy number (if you have been given one). Then sign the form and return it to us.

You should enclose copies of any documents relevant to your complaint, including any letter from the firm setting out its decision.

If your complaint is one we are able to deal with, we will usually start by seeing if OFTA can help you and the adviser or firm resolve matters informally.

We will take a fresh look at the facts and tell you and the adviser or firm how we think you could reach agreement. If we think the firm has treated you fairly we will tell you so.

If we cannot resolve the complaint this way, we may need to take a more formal approach.

We will consider all the information and comments that you and the adviser, or firm have put forward. We may also ask for documents and information from other people and firms. And we might have more questions for both you and the adviser, or firm. So it may take some time before we can get to the bottom of your complaint.

We will keep you up to date with progress on your case - and will write to you to set out how your complaint should be resolved.

Because of the complications of most cases this may take six months or so - longer in some very complicated cases.

We can resolve most complaints without needing a formal decision by an ombudsman. But if an ombudsman's decision is needed for your case, this will be final.

OFTA members have to accept our decisions. But you don't. You are free to go to court instead. However, we cannot give you legal advice about how a court might handle your case or about any court requirements - for example, on time limits - that might apply.

You need to refer your complaint to us within six months of the date on the adviser's, or firm's final response letter. Other time limits may also apply if you leave it too long to complain after you know (or should have known) that there's a problem.

Our service is free to people with complaints.

Anyone can complain on your behalf – for example, a member of your family, a friend or a Citizens Advice Bureau. But we will need your written authority before we can discuss your personal details with that person.

The ombudsman service is a free and informal alternative to going to court. So you shouldn't need special expertise or the help of a solicitor or other adviser. We decide if your complaint is valid by looking at the facts of the case – not at how well you present your complaint. And we prefer to hear from you in your own words.

If you do decide to employ a professional to present your case for you (for example, a solicitor or financial adviser) then you will almost certainly have to pay their costs yourself. Don't expect to get these costs back, even if we decide your complaint is valid.

We deal with complaints differently from the courts, and our procedures are less extensive and formal.

We generally decide cases based on the paperwork that you and the firm provide.

We resolve most complaints without the need for face-to-face meetings (sometimes called hearings).

If you want to inspect all the papers personally, ask your own questions, or have a hearing as a matter of course, our approach may not suit you. You may prefer to take your complaint to court instead.

We will not usually handle a case which has already been considered by a court (or where court proceedings are pending).

To deal with the complaint effectively, we may need to exchange information about your case with other relevant organisations. We take care to handle all personal details with sensitivity and discretion.

To help us get to the bottom of your complaint, we will ask the adviser or firm for its views on the case. We will also ask them to send us all their relevant paperwork. Sometimes we may send this information on to you. We may also send the adviser or firm information which you have given us, if we think this might help resolve matters quickly.

Our job is to help settle disputes between individual consumers and financial advisers and firms where consumers think they have lost out. Our service is confidential - we do not publish the names of firms or consumers whose complaints we handle.

We do not write the rules for financial firms – and we do not monitor (or ‘regulate') advisers or firms to make sure they follow the rules. This is the responsibility of the regulator.

We are not a regulator. The main regulator is called the Offshore Financial Trade Association (OFTA).

If you are concerned that a firm may not be following the rules, you should contact OFTA's consumer helpline on 0044 (0)207 939 9985.