Is the Financial Ombudsman Service protecting consumers—or protecting the system?
At Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation), we are compiling a dossier of systemic issues in the way the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) handles complaints—particularly those involving fraud, maladministration, and regulatory failure.
This is part of The Goliathon Project, a programme empowering Citizen Investigators to expose structural injustice in the UK’s financial complaint and redress systems.
📩 A Case Study:
An email from a Senior Investigator at FOS, dated 13 February 2025, has raised serious red flags. Addressed to a complainant alleging fraud by Lloyds Bank, the email reveals troubling patterns that we are beginning to see across multiple FOS cases.
🔍 8 Red Flags Identified in a Single Letter
Here’s what we found:
🔴 1. Mischaracterising Complainant Status
FOS wrongly rejected a complaint brought in personal capacity as a guarantor, insisting the complainant was acting “as a director” and thus not a consumer—ignoring the individual legal liability of guarantees.
🔴 2. Contradictory Finality
A 2019 “final decision” was cited as the reason the case couldn’t be revisited. Yet, FOS had reopened the case in 2024, requesting consent from an insolvency practitioner. Was it closed, or wasn’t it?
🔴 3. Rigid Consumer Definition
FOS applied a narrow reading of the FCA’s consumer definition, despite the fact that FCA DISP rules allow fraud complaints regardless of strict “consumer” status.
🔴 4. Time Bar Without Context
The six-month rule was used to dismiss the complaint—even though the complainant lacked authority to act during liquidation, and exceptional circumstances (i.e., alleged fraud) clearly applied.
🔴 5. Fraud Acknowledged but Ignored
FOS admitted the fraud allegations “may have happened”—but declined to investigate them due to bureaucratic barriers. This is a dereliction of duty in the face of potential criminal misconduct.
🔴 6. Complaint Identity Tampering
A FOS staff member changed the complaint title, rebranding it as a company matter—potentially a tactic to bypass investigation by shifting jurisdiction to the liquidator.
🔴 7. Patronising Tone and Emotional Deflection
The response included mental health resources rather than addressing the complaint’s substance—a move that risks appearing dismissive or diversionary in cases involving serious allegations.
🔴 8. Mixed Messages on Appeal
While stating the case was closed, FOS also invited the business to escalate to an Ombudsman. This sends confusing, contradictory signals.
📂 The Goliathon Dossier
These issues aren’t isolated.
We are now actively compiling a Goliathon Dossier—a body of evidence documenting systemic maladministration, misdirection, and institutional negligence by FOS across a range of complaints involving:
- Fraud
- Misrepresentation
- Regulatory evasion
- Consumer harm
This dossier will support future legal actions, parliamentary inquiries, and public awareness campaigns.
✊ How You Can Help
If you or someone you know has received a FOS letter that:
- Misrepresents your complaint,
- Mischaracterises your standing,
- Applies rules inconsistently,
- Acknowledges wrongdoing but fails to act…
👉 Submit your correspondence in confidence to info@aolp.co for forensic analysis.
Each letter adds weight to the case for systemic reform.
🧠 Join the Goliathon Project
On 26 August 2025, we launch the Goliathon Citizen Investigator Training Programme — a £29 one-time purchase for lifetime access.
Your toolkit includes:
🎥 Six 90-minute training videos
Comprehensive masterclasses guiding you step-by-step through the redress journey—from gathering evidence to building a campaign.
📘 Six corresponding workbooks
Downloadable, structured resources packed with practical exercises, legal references, case study analysis, and checklist templates.
🗂️ A Notion-based investigation toolkit
A fully customisable workspace to manage documents, evidence, correspondence, timelines, and case summaries—all in one place.
⚖️ Legal and regulatory guidance
Clear, accessible explanations of complaint pathways, time limits, jurisdictional issues, judicial review options, and how to identify maladministration.
🧠 AI-powered analysis tools
Use artificial intelligence to redact documents, cross-reference decisions, generate letters, and identify patterns across case law and correspondence.
📣 Campaign resources for advocacy and redress
Templates for media engagement, MP letters, petitions, and public accountability campaigns to pressure institutions and support victims.
Be the David to this modern-day Goliath.
Investigate. Document. Expose. Reform.
#Goliathon #GetSAFE #CitizenJustice
Be the David to this modern-day Goliath.
🔔 Final Thoughts
The Financial Ombudsman Service was created to protect consumers—not to shield institutions behind red tape and misinterpretation. The public deserves better. Transparency is not optional. It is essential.
Together, we rise.
Submit. Investigate. Expose. Reform.
#Goliathon #GetSAFE #FOSReform #FinancialJustice #CitizenInvestigators #EndFinancialAbuse #FOS #LloydsTSB
About Get SAFE
Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation) was born from a simple truth: too many victims of financial abuse are left to suffer in silence.
We exist for people like Ian—for the ones who did everything right, only to be failed by the systems they trusted. We know that behind every vanished pension, every ignored complaint, and every stonewalled letter is a person—frightened, exhausted, and too often alone.
Get SAFE offers more than sympathy. We offer structure, support, and solidarity.
We provide a voice where there’s been silence, and clarity where there’s been confusion.
We stand beside those who have been exploited, not just to help them recover—but to help them reclaim their story and rebuild their future.
Because financial justice is not a luxury.
It’s a human right.
If you or someone you know has been affected by financial exploitation, we are here.
You are not alone.
Learn more at: Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation).
If you are a fraud survivor or work in financial justice and want to share your views on this issue, feel free to get in touch.
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