FINANCIAL OMBUD National Financial Ombud recovers R328 million for disgruntled financial consumers

SINCE its launch a year ago, the National Financial Ombud Scheme South Africa (NFO) has recovered R328.5 million for consumers who lodged complaints against financial institutions, the organisation announced in a statement on Friday.

- PHILIPPA LARKIN

The NFO is a single, one-stop, dispute resolution service made up of four former longstanding industry ombud schemes: the Ombudsman for Short-Term Insurance, the Ombudsman for Long-term Insurance; the Credit Ombud and Ombudsman for Banking Services. Services are provided free of charge.

Between March 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024, the NFO handled 35 855 complaints that had been dealt with by its four divisions, Non-life and Life Insurance, Banking and Credit.

Reana Steyn, the head Ombud and CEO of the NFO, said, "This recovery of monies has helped individuals and families regain lost financial stability, reinforcing the institution's role as a guardian of justice in financial services.

Of the total amount of R328.5 million recovered on behalf of complainants, the Banking division of the NFO recovered R29.2m; Credit R2.4m; Life R202m; and Non-life R94m.

With an average turnaround time of 115 days for all complaints that came before the NFO, the banking division performed best, taking an average 52 days to close cases. The credit division took 79 days, life division 152 days and non-life 177 days to resolve complaints.

The Banking Division opened a total of 15 412 cases, of which 11 535 cases were successfully closed. Of the five banks with the highest number of cases opened, Capitec led with 1 203.