DISP 2.1 Purpose, interpretation and application

The purpose of this chapter is to set out rules and guidance on the scope of the Compulsory Jurisdiction, the Consumer Credit Jurisdiction and the Voluntary Jurisdiction, which are the Financial Ombudsman Service's threejurisdictions:

1. (1)

   the Compulsory Jurisdiction is not restricted to regulated activities and covers:

   1. (a)

      certain complaints against firms (and businesses which were firms at the time of the events complained about); and

   2. (b)

      relevant complaints against former members of former schemes under the Ombudsman Transitional Order and the Mortgage and General Insurance Complaints Transitional Order;

2. (2)

   the Consumer Credit Jurisdiction covers certain complaints against licensees (and businesses which were licensees at the time of the events complained about); and

3. (3)

   the Voluntary Jurisdiction covers certain complaints against VJ participants, including in relation to events before they joined the Voluntary Jurisdiction.418

Relevant complaints covered by the Compulsory Jurisdiction comprise:

1. (1)

   relevant existing complaints referred to a former scheme before commencement and inherited by the Financial Ombudsman Service under the Ombudsman Transitional Order;

2. (2)

   relevant new complaints about events before commencement but referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service after commencement under the Ombudsman Transitional Order; and

3. (3)

   relevant transitional complaints referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service after the relevant commencement date under the Mortgages and General Insurance Complaints Transitional Order. 4 18

The Ombudsman Transitional Order requires the Financial Ombudsman Service to complete the handling of relevant existing complaints, in a significant number of respects, in accordance with the requirements of the relevant former scheme rather than in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.418

In this chapter, carrying on an activity includes:418

1. (1)

   4 18 offering, providing or failing to provide a service in relation to an activity;418

2. (2)

   administering or failing to administer a service in relation to an activity; and418

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3. (3)

   the manner in which a respondent has administered its business, provided that the business is an activity subject to the Financial Ombudsman Service's jurisdiction.418

   418

In this chapter, ancillary banking services include, for example, the provision and operation of cash machines, foreign currency exchange, safe deposit boxes and account aggregation services (services where details of accounts held with different financial service providers can be accessed by a single password).4 18