The draft legislation to establish an ombudsman scheme in Jersey was approved by the States of Jersey on 1 April 2014. It is therefore expected that the Ombudsman will be operational in Jersey before the end of 2014.
The draft law proposes to allow the Ombudsman to consider complaints arising from 1 January 2010 (as the States of Jersey first approved the proposal to establish an Ombudsman in 2010).
An alternative proposition to allow complaints from 1 January 2005 to be considered, so that PPI mis-selling claims that arose during that period could also be heard, was rejected.
However, a proposal that access to the Ombudsman should be on a ‘no cost’ basis for the complainant, was approved. The respondent against whom the complaint is made could still be made liable for costs payable to the complainant or to the Ombudsman.
Jersey Government has consequently issued a consultation paper on the secondary legislation, and drafts of the legislation relating to eligible complainants and exempt business, all of which are available on the Jersey Government website. The deadline for comments on the consultation paper was 8 May 2014.
The establishment of the Ombudsman will bring an important shift in the approach to resolving complaints, in that whilst the Ombudsman may take account of applicable law and codes of practice, as well as relevant good industry practice at the time, his overriding obligation is to determine the complaint by reference to what is, in his opinion, fair and reasonable in all the circumstances. The Ombudsman will also have power to impose a monetary award or a direction, even if a court could not have ordered that amount to be paid or action to be taken.
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