Commenting on the proposals made by the Financial Ombudsman Service in its plans and budget for 2024/25, which include plans for new fees on claims management companies and others, Matthew Maxwell Scott, executive director of ACSO, said:
“CMCs play an important part in the claims industry, offering consumers choice when they need help to make a claim against financial and other institutions.
"On principle, we argue that the authorities should sponsor a system that makes it as easy as possible for consumers to make a claim, and our concern is that ultimately, these proposed fees will be passed on to consumers, making it more expensive for them to make a claim, increasing the risk that people will be off claiming at all, even if they have a justifiable case.
"At a time when the cost-of-living crisis is hitting consumers hard financially, another layer of cost seems regressive; charging fees is just another form of stealth tax on hard-pressed consumers."