Victorians knew how to get things done

It was dated 2 June 1864, and provided a detailed answer to the client’s letter of 31 May. As it had been sent from Gloucestershire, the earliest it could possibly have arrived was 1 June.

Yet the handwritten reply on 2 June set out the bonus due of £9/15s on his £100 policy and advised him that if he died, this sum would be added to his policy or, if he liked, he could take £3/4s as a cash sum now, or choose to have his annual premium reduced by 5s 4pence, in which case the amount payable on death would remain at £100.

In 24 hours, the query had been received, understood and responded to by Edinburgh Life. In today’s world of ‘high speed’ communication, I doubt that many organisations could match the speed and accuracy of 152 years ago.

I doubt that many organisations could match the speed and accuracy of 152 years ago

From 30 June, the FCA has increased the time limit for the informal handling of a complaint from the day after receiving it to close of business on the third day after receipt.

This is a very welcome change which better recognises the time pressures of running a business. If the complaint is resolved to the client’s satisfaction within this timescale, a ‘final response’ will not be necessary; only the much simpler ‘summary resolution communication’.

Statistics from the Financial Ombudsman Service demonstrate that advisers already have an excellent complaints record, and it is heartening that the Financial Conduct Authority has taken this much more realistic and pragmatic approach.

I predict that this important change in how complaints are handled will result in even more complaints being resolved amicably with clients, which will be good for clients, advisers and, indeed, the regulators. Who knows, we might even match the service standards of 1864.

Ken Davy is chairman of SimplyBiz Group