The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) receives the official go-ahead from the Government.
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has been officially launched by Minister for superannuation and corporate law Nick Sherry.
FOS combines the old Insurance Ombudsman Service (IOS), the Financial Industry Complaints Service (FICS) and Banking and Financial Services Ombudsman (BFSO) into one external dispute resolution service.
"The merger means that independent dispute resolution services for up to 80 per cent of Australian banking, insurance and investment disputes can now be provided under the one roof," Minister Sherry said.
An independent services for consumers who are unable to resolve a dispute directly with their financial service provider was particularly important, he said.
"External dispute resolution services allow consumers to have complaints that would not normally be brought before a court, due to the cost of legal proceedings, aired and resolved," Sherry said.
"Our financial services regime is based on the principles of transparency, fairness and consistency. External dispute resolution schemes like the new FOS play an important role in keeping the regime on a level playing field."
The new service has three divisions of which each have their own ombudsman. Philip Field is ombudsman for banking and finance, Alison Maynard for investments, life insurance and superannuation division, and Sam Parrion for general insurance.
Victorian Supreme Court barrister and solicitor Colin Neave has taken on the responsibility as chief ombudsman.
The initiative for the merger of the three dispute resolution services came from the Productivity Commission, an organisation that advises the government on improving the welfare of Australians.
In April this year the commission recommended that the effectiveness of the ombudsman services would be improved by consolidating the existing bodies into a single scheme.
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