What is an ombudsman and when should I use one?

An ombudsman is an independent dispute resolution service that investigates complaints where an organisation has failed to resolve a complaint to a consumer's satisfaction. Ombudsman schemes are free to the complainant and are designed to be accessible without legal representation. In the UK there are numerous sector-specific ombudsman schemes. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) deals with complaints about banks, insurers, mortgage lenders, debt collectors, and other FCA-regulated firms. The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) handles complaints about solicitors, barristers, and other regulated legal professionals. The Property Redress Scheme, The Property Ombudsman, and Propertymark deal with complaints about estate and letting agents. The Housing Ombudsman investigates complaints from social housing tenants about landlords (local authorities and housing associations). The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman investigates complaints about government departments and the NHS. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints about councils and adult social care providers. Before approaching an ombudsman, you must first make a formal complaint directly to the organisation and allow them an opportunity to resolve it (usually eight weeks for financial firms, eight weeks for legal services). If the organisation does not resolve it satisfactorily, you can escalate to the relevant ombudsman, who will investigate and can order compensation, apologies, or changes in practice. Ombudsman decisions are binding on the company (though the consumer can decline the award and pursue court action instead).