Consumer Voice Benefits
What will this mean for consumers?
The existing consumer advocates did some excellent work and built up a considerable body of expertise. The consolidation of this expertise into a stronger, more coherent body will provide a powerful consumer advocate, able to address consumer issues that frequently exist across sectors of the economy and respond to their changing needs.
The new body (Consumer Voice) will be able to harness new approaches and have the critical mass to engage effectively with Government, regulators, and industry sectors, on the basis of expert and informed analysis, with the benefit of being able to draw on experience and expertise from a number of sectors.
Responsibility and authority to speak for consumers will rest with a single organisation, able to providing a stronger and more effective policy voice in both the UK and EU.
Cost savings to industry, and ultimately consumers, are expected to be generated by a reduction in the cost of complaint handling, the consolidation of offices and staff, and a reduction in property costs.
Extending the availability of redress schemes to the postal services sector and to all of the energy sector will provide certainty that a complaint will be resolved and that consumers can be awarded compensation or, where warranted, further redress. This will provide a strong incentive for companies to resolve complaints effectively and efficiently.
The service is entirely free to consumers and although companies will be bound by the decisions of the redress schemes, consumers will not, and will be free to pursue further action such as taking a company to court.
There will also be a single point of contact (Consumer Direct) for all consumers to obtain information and impartial advice as well as help with making a complaint to the energy and postal sectors.
What’s in it for industry?
There will also be benefits for companies as members of an ombudsman scheme:
- in more competitive markets, treating complaints seriously and having a reputation for excellent customer service may be a deciding factor for customers when choosing a provider
- the cost is borne by the relevant companies who therefore gain control of the administrative costs of complaints resolution
- provide a valuable way of resolving burdensome and difficult complaints – in the long run it may often save time and resource to have a dispute dealt with outside the company
- investigation of a complaint may help identify company practice or systems which is in the company’s interests to change.