Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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201. To ask the Minister for Finance the current timeframe for a complaint to be adjudicated upon under the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman once a complaint leaves the informal dispute resolution process; the number of complaints that have been upheld or substantially upheld as a percentage of all complaints adjudicated to date in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56263/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) that it resolves most of the complaints it receives through methods other than adjudication, such as mediation in its Dispute Resolution Service, or early-stage assessment.

So far this year, complaints resolved by way of a legally binding decision have accounted for only 9% of all complaints closed. For example, in October 2022, 80% of all complaints which completed the process of the FSPO’s Dispute Resolution Service were resolved either through a settlement agreement, or a clarification to the complainant, with only 20% progressing to the formal investigation process that month.

To date in 2022, for complaints where a preliminary decision on adjudication has been issued, the average time from the conclusion of mediation to the issuing of that preliminary decision was 27 months.

When this data is disaggregated, to separate Tracker Mortgage complaints from Non-Tracker complaints, the average time is as follows.

During 2022, certain complaints concerning business interruption insurance arising from the COVID-19 pandemic were prioritised and preliminary decisions were issued within 4 months, in recognition of the importance to policyholders of achieving an early understanding as to whether they were entitled to benefits or payments from their insurer.

This timelines above include both the waiting period before the formal investigation is commenced, and the investigation itself. Once commenced, a formal investigation typically takes between 9 and 18 months, depending on the complexity of the issues involved. Other factors that can contribute to the timeline to adjudication include:

- the requirement for a formal jurisdictional determination of eligibility, for instance, if the time limits are challenged by one of the parties;

- where a need arises to place a complaint on hold for a period, because of external litigation/statutory appeal/ judicial review, which has not yet concluded.

The aggregated average timeline referenced above of 27 months also reflects the fact that during 2022, the FSPO has focused on the resolution of older complaints.

When a formal investigation process is required, the FSPO undertakes a detailed gathering and examination of all relevant evidence, whilst at all times adhering to fair procedures, including facilitating the parties in making their observations and comments regarding the emerging evidence, so that each party can confirm their position.

The volume of submissions received from the parties can contribute to the timeline, because the adjudication will proceed only when both parties have concluded their respective submissions. Similarly, this timeline can be impacted by the requirement to schedule a hearing to take the parties’ oral evidence, when a material conflict in the evidence is noted, which cannot otherwise be resolved.

To answer the Deputy's second question, since 1 January 2022, the FSPO has concluded 370 complaints by way of legally binding decision. The number of complaints that have been upheld, substantially upheld, partially upheld or rejected, as a percentage of all such decisions to date in 2022, is detailed in the table below.

Of all complaints adjudicated on during 2022, 19% were not upheld because an early offer of redress from the provider which was considered reasonable and adequate to redress the complaint remained open to the complainant to accept, and the legally binding decision noted that it was not necessary to make any further direction.