Ms Derville Rowland:

I support what Professor Lane has told the committee. The appeals steps are independent processes, in the main, for serious cases. This is an additional step and an extra option that people have. They could have chosen to go to the courts or ombudsman if they wished. It would appear to be a reasonable option to see what the appeals mechanism will deliver and people are making appeals through the system. They will have 12 months from the date of receipt of their offer to make the decision to go to the courts or the ombudsman. That will, therefore, continue for some time.

The Central Banks expect the banks to be responsible and look at any decision of a court or the financial services ombudsman and consider the reasons for those decisions. If there is something that affects a broader group, the banks have to take that into account because the Central Bank has demanded they look at the outcomes of appeals to see if there are systemic trends. In any case, it may be there were circumstances particular to a family or individual that have no general application. That is the reason the appeals step is such an important one because nobody can give compensation proposals in the general sense, when they may have to understand what is happening in a family circumstance.