Toothless Ombudsmen are something I'm increasingly encountering in my role at the MP's office.
Ombudsmen are bodies such as OFWAT or OFGEM, and they are consumers' final port of call if they are dissatisfied with the way a company has dealt with their complaint. You need to make a complaint before being able to go to an Ombudsman.
However it turns out that these bodies are slack, to say the least.
Focus on what we CANNOT do...
One common gripe of constituents is that Ombudsmen always make it very clear what the CANNOT do, much more so than what they CAN do.
Many of them will use the slightest excuse to NOT hear a case. The worst example of this I've seen is The Property Ombudsman: of 50K cases sumbmitted, only 5K were accepted in 2023.
Seriously, you can't tell me that 90% of people are so dumb they can't read the very clear instructions on a website.
More than likely it's the case like one constituent whose case was not considered when he approached TPO, but it was when his MP approached them, and dealt with swiftly.
He'd be FALSEY rejected....
Things they genuinely cannot consider...
They are just about process, not really fairness.
This is what a lot of people don't get - A decision may seem unfair but if the energy company (or whatever) has followed the correct process, the decision will probably go in the company's favour. So you might not like that your bill has double overnight, but if they gave you sufficient warning and it's in the T and Cs, and you missed that, tough, basically.
Limited Power to Hold Companies to Account..
the PHSO is a good example of this... the DWP is notorious for simply ignoring it when it finds they've been offering a crap service, however the DWP just carries on offering a crap service!
I think another problem is monopolies.. The National Grid has a monopoly on power supplies in the West Midlands, so I don't see how OFGEM can really put any pressure on them to do better, at least in the medium term!
VERY slow response times...
Honestly, it doesn't surprise me anymore if someone comes to us and they've been waiting SIX MONTHS or more for a response from an Ombudsman.
The twisted thing is if an MP gets involved, it really does give them a kick up the arse!
Final thoughts...
If you do have to use one, stay calm, expect a long wait, and don't expect the outcome to go your way, they don't give a toss!