A statement from Fos said the policy, part of the 2012 Financial Services Act that was subject to a consultation last year, would mean a firm and the ombudsman involved in a complaint would be identified, although the complainant would not.
It said: “Decisions will be placed on our website in a searchable and downloadable format. We will publish the first batch of decisions later in the year, once we have a sufficient volume of ombudsman decisions to publish and we are satisfied that our systems and controls are working effectively. Decisions will be added at regular intervals.”
Fos has a budget of £283.6m for 2013 and is seeking a £23m levy, up from £17.7m last year.
The regulator’s 20-page business plan predicted 385,000 new cases and a record 245,000 disputes regarding mis-sold payment protection insurance.
Fos said it would raise the individual case fee from £500 to £550, and increase the amount of free cases for each business from three to 25.
However for network advisers the allowance is set at the level of the authorised entity. Once a network uses all of its free cases, advisers may have to pay the fee as they are rarely covered by a network.
Background
Advisers and Fos have clashed on many occasions regarding rulings. Earlier this month Bruce Jamieson, former principal of West Sussex-based Jamieson Financial Management, said he had been ordered by Fos to compensate a client and put him into an index-linked annuity, despite the low rates available.
Adviser view
Stuart Duncan, adviser for Sussex-based the Personal Mortgage Service, said: “There is a risk of the number of free cases being eaten up by claims companies. Publicising decisions does not concern me. Most of the decisions are usually reasonable, although you do get the odd dubious one. I doubt people will even look at the website.”
| estimated number of new cases | 385,000 |
| estimated number of resolved cases | 385,000 |
