News | Ombudsman Services

New telecoms industry rules: key points for consumers

Wide-ranging new rules designed to give consumers greater protection came into force for the telecoms industry earlier this week.

Five things we learned at the Labour conference

Earlier this week we held a fringe event at the Labour Party conference, called Transforming UK Markets to Work for Consumers.

Chief Executive Matt Vickers comments on the Citizens Advice report about customer loyalty

Commenting on a new Citizens Advice report out today, which reveals that customers are losing out on over £4bn a year by staying loyal to companies, Ombudsman Services chief executive Matthew Vickers said..

Energy Ombudsman statement on Ofgem's complaints survey

Ofgem has today published its biennial complaints survey, which looks at how effectively larger energy suppliers are handling complaints compared to two years ago. Matthew Vickers, Chief Executive at the Energy Ombudsman, comments.

£750 billion of purchases under-protected every year

More than half (59%) of all purchases made in 2017 were in sectors without adequate levels of consumer protection, a new report by Ombudsman Services (OS) has found.

Ombudsman Services withdraws from property and housing sector

Ombudsman Services (OS) is reminding property and housing companies that today (Monday 6 August) marks its last day handling consumer complaints in the sector.

Any company that provides sales, lettings or managing agency services and is still signed up with Ombudsman Services for dispute resolution will need to switch to either The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme.

Iresa and Octopus Energy: our latest advice to consumers

Customers of Iresa, which went out of business last week, have been taken on by Octopus Energy as of 1 August 2018.

New dialogue launched into Ombudsman for housing

Ombudsman Services has today announced that it will withdraw from complaints handling in the property sector as it launches a major dialogue with consumers to help tackle an ‘imbalance in power’ in the housing sector.

BBC TV Licensing appoints Ombudsman Services to handle complaints

BBC TV Licensing has joined Ombudsman Services who will provide independent dispute resolution for its customers from 2 November 2017. This replaces the previous arrangement where the BBC Trust was the final escalation point for complaints and was necessary as the Trust is no longer in existence.

Economy Energy ceases trading

Economy Energy, an energy supplier with about 235,000 domestic customers, has ceased trading.