Commbank’s Spring backs lifting FOS limit to over $1m


The Commonwealth Bank has signalled that it would like to see the monetary limit on matters handled by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) increased to $1 million.
The Commonwealth Bank’s group director, wealth management, Annabel Spring has told a Parliamentary Committee that when looking at the monetary limits on cases handled by FOS, the banking group would be happy to see them lifted.
Spring also pointed to the Commonwealth Bank’s backing of a one-stop shop for external dispute resolution.
“As you are aware, in insurance we have the FOS and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT). They have slightly different mandates. They both have tremendous expertise, obviously, in insurance and certainly the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal in superannuation as well,” she said.
“We do not want to lose that expertise by suggesting that we could have a one-stop shop, so it may end up being sort of one door that is easy for the consumers to walk through and then a couple of shops behind. We would be very comfortable with that.”
“We look at the limits with respect to FOS as a group and we would advocate increasing those limits probably to at least $1 million with respect to the sort of claims that we deal with,” Spring said.
In discussing the benefits of a one stop shop approach, Spring said customers really needed a low cost, fair and hopefully quicker resolution of complaints.
Recommended for you
ASIC has released the results of its first adviser exam to be held in 2025, with 241 candidates attempting the test.
Quarterly Wealth Data analysis has uncovered positive improvements in financial adviser numbers compared with losses in the prior corresponding period.
Holding portfolios that are too complex or personalised can be a detractor for acquirers of financial advice firms as they require too much effort to maintain post-acquisition.
As the financial advice profession continues to wait on further DBFO legislation, industry commentators have encouraged advisers to act now in driving practice efficiency.