Ombudsman

If you have not be sated by the complaint handling of the OFT or Trading Standards, there is another avenue, that of the Ombudsman. The phrase, Ombudsman, has it's origins in the Old Norse mythology, and it's use in the UK probably dates back to the Viking invasions of Scotland and the North of England.

The term can be loosely translated as,

• Representative

In the UK, an ombudsman is appointed to his position by the parliament of Westminster, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. His/her role is as a representative of the people, and is there to address the concerns of private citizens of the United Kingdom.

A UK ombudsman is usually attached to a specific area of private/public life. Such as, an ombudsman of the health service, banking or agriculture. Large and small businesses are often a part of ombudsman schemes for their business sector.

Some examples of ombudsman schemes are listed below,

• http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/ (Insurance, Banking etc Ombudsman)
• http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/ (Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman)
• http://www.lgo.org.uk/ (Local Government Ombudsman)
  
• http://www.tpos.co.uk/ (The Property Ombudsman)
• http://www.otelo.org.uk/ (Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman)
• http://www.energy-ombudsman.org.uk/ (Energy Ombudsman)
• http://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/ (Pensions Ombudsman)
• http://www.olso.org/ (http://www.olso.org/ (Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman)
  

Contacting a ombudsman with a complaint is usually a means of last resort. The ombudsman will have expected you to have exhausted all previous mediation with the trader/company/organisation you wish to complain about.

The services of an ombudsman are usually free. An ombudsman is impartial and acts as a judge between his chosen field of expertise and the complainant. The decision that an ombudsman purposes is not binding within the law, but usually conveys enough weight for the trader/organisation to comply with it.