In the ombudsman’s budget for 2021/2022 the arbitrator said the £100 rise in the fee was needed to help it achieve the necessary level of funding. The increase will also incentivise firms to prevent complaints, said FOS.
It is the second consecutive year that FOS has increased the individual case fee by £100. Prior to the 2020/21 rise the case fee had been held at £550 for seven years.
The overall levy imposed on the financial services industry has risen by 14 per cent from £84m to £96m but is nine per cent lower than the £106m levy proposed in its December consultation on fees and costs for the coming year.
FOS said that by increasing the levy to £96m, combined with the rise in case fees, it would be able to freeze the levy and flat case fee for the next three years.
A voluntary jurisdiction levy which is paid by businesses that fall outside the compulsory levy is forecast to raise £1m.
The ombudsman expects to receive 170,000 complaints in 2021/22 and anticipates resolving 220,000 complaints.
Among its goals for the year, is to resolve more complaints that it receives. It also plans to invest in its capacity to resolve complaints at scale in its general workload to reduce the number of people waiting for a decision.
Last month, chief executive and chief ombudsman Caroline Wayman resigned from her role after 22 years in the service and seven years as CEO. She leaves her position on 16 April.
The news of her departure cam after a report from the Money Mail that revealed a backlog of more than 158,000 complaints had left customers waiting years to receive compensation.
