Three Ombuds offices in the financial industry have come together and established an easy to remember share call number for the consumers.

This centralised one-number is the result of the teaming up between the offices of the Ombudsman for Banking Services, Long Term Insurance Ombud and Credit Information Ombud aimed at bringing their services closer to the consumers they serve.

0860 OMBUDS (0860 662837) is a single number for consumers to call and they will be connected directly to any of the 3 offices or have guidelines on whom to contact if in doubt of which Ombud office to use for lodging a complaint in the financial industry.

“More consumers are becoming aware of the role of Ombudsman and that they can lodge complaints free of charge if they need disputes to be resolved in the financial industry, therefore it is important for the financial ombudsman offices to focus on accessibility to such bodies. It was precisely with this in mind that the idea of the one telephone number for all financial ombud’s offices was borne” say Credit Information Ombud, Manie van Schalkwyk.

Neville Melville, the Ombudsman for Banking Services adds: “The one telephone number for all financial Ombud offices has been successfully implemented in Australia and this made it easier for the consumer to lodge a dispute with any of the financial Ombud offices.”

Consumers have come to associate the term “Ombud” with someone who could help resolve all their disputes especially in the financial industry. However frustrations arise when they are told that they called the wrong Ombud and that the entire process to lodge a complaint with the correct Ombud office must start again.

Justice Peet Nienaber, Long term Insurance Ombudsman states: “This is another big win for consumers. We forget that consumers don’t always have the correct knowledge to know which office to contact when they want to lodge a complaint, thus making this one telephone number initiative a win-win situation for consumers and Ombud offices”

The Ombud schemes involved in this initiative envisages this to be a huge benefit in terms of consumers convenience and hopes that the other Ombud offices in the industry will soon join in which is in the best interest of the consumer.