BBRS publishes reports on customer satisfaction and complaints

The Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS) has published its Customer Satisfaction Report, reporting customer journey feedback for the 2 months to late August. 72% of customers said they were able to complete the application without BBRS team support, compared to 73% for June 2022. Two results remained the same as in June 2022: 56% of customers agreed that the application was simple to complete, and 44% agreed that the process of submitting supporting documents was simple. 84% of those who agreed that the application was simple to complete had raised complaints post-BBRS launch; this was 3% higher than last quarter, so suggests improvement.  All customers felt their Customer Champion (who works with complainants to take them through the process) had helped them to set out their complaint.

BBRS reported limited data on the decision stage of complaints processing. Since its last report, it has only received two new service complaints; as of this report, the existing complaints feature a variety of topics including desire for concessionary consideration, alternative process being used to the courts and the need for a subject matter expert.

On 31 October, BBRS also published its Quarterly Insight Report data. As at 30 September, BBRS had 97 open cases and 765 closed cases – 634 of which were closed for reasons unrelated to eligibility. According to its Reporting Data which summarises both active and closed complaints cases, BBRS reached 44 settlements of which 17 were the result of adjudications and 27 of settlement directly between the parties.

As at 30 September, 125 complaints cases were deemed ineligible. 44% of those cases had more than one reason for their ineligibility; the most common reason was eligibility for FOS, as cases cannot be eligible for both. Even if BBRS considers a case ineligible, they may still be able to consider it as long as the customer, bank and BBRS all agree. In the latest data, BBRS had referred 33 cases to banks for such consideration, of which 7 were progressed. In some cases, an ineligible result from BBRS’s Eligibility Assessment can be appealed. Permissible grounds of appeal are: mistakes (error of fact or law), new information or evidence becoming available, and BBRS’s non-compliance with Scheme Rules. As at 30 September, BBRS has received 63 appeal notices, of which 48 were unsuccessful and 13 were accepted for consideration.

Historical cases continue to make up a large proportion of all cases, but the historical scheme is expecting to close in February 2023. Overall, the number of both adjudicated and non-adjudicated outcomes has increased.