Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 5 March 2014
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform
Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman
4:00 pm
Mr. William Prasifka:
First, in relation to how we calculate compensation, we do not operate a system of penalties. A penalty is an issue for the regulator. We operate a system only of compensation. In terms of dealing with the substance, if the financial provider has not lived up to its responsibilities under the consumer protection code or under various legal principles or equitable principles, the goal is to put the customer in the place he or she would have been if everything had been done. It may, therefore, mean the claim is paid on the insurance policies, that they get their money back. It is a separate issue, apart from the economic loss about stress, inconvenience and getting the run-around, so to speak. Within the office we have a certain protocol whereby we grade things generally up to €250 to €500 and €500 up to €1,000. If one is getting more than €1,000 in terms of stress, one is talking about things which are getting into the substance of it generally.
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