Appeals

How to appeal against our decision-making

As you can see on our What to expect page both parties to a complaint have the opportunity to respond to an Eligibility Assessment or Provisional Determination before it is issued as a Determination. Any responses to the Provisional Determination will be taken into account before the issuing of the Determination.

The BBRS recognises that there may still be some situations in which either a customer or the bank they are complaining about feel there is more to be considered about the case and wish to appeal the whole or part of a Determination. It is also possible to appeal an eligibility decision made at any stage in the process. The party wishing to appeal will need to submit an Appeal Notice to the Chief Adjudicator, specifying the grounds of appeal.

The only permissible grounds of appeal are:

• Mistakes: If there has been a clear error of fact or law in the decision being appealed.
• New information: If there is new evidence or information relating to the decision that has only become available since the decision was issued.
• Non-compliance with Scheme Rules: If the BBRS, in handling the case, has failed to comply with the Scheme Rules in a material way and this has had a material impact on the outcome.

Any problem with the handling of a case outside these grounds of appeal, should be reported as a service complaint.

If the BBRS receives an appeal notice, the other party will be informed and provided with copies of any accompanying documents. Any response to the appeal notice must be provided within the specified timeframe given (at least 28 days) and will also be shared with the other party.

If the Chief Adjudicator decides that there is no real prospect of the appeal succeeding, the appeal will be dismissed and the customer will be given another opportunity to accept the Determination.

If the Chief Adjudicator decides that the appeal should proceed, she will appoint an appeal panel to review the decision. The Appeal Panel will comprise three people who are either Case Assessors not previously been involved in the case, the Chief Adjudicator and/or the Deputy Chief Adjudicator.

The Appeal Panel will re-take the eligibility decision (if that was the subject of the appeal). If the appeal was about a determination, the Appeal Panel will re-determine the complaint on its merits and issue a Final Determination to both parties at the same time. The customer will then be given time to either accept or reject the Final Determination. If the customer gives no written response by the final acceptance deadline, this will be interpreted as a rejection of the Final Determination.

If the Final Determination is accepted, then the complaint will be conclusively determined and at an end. The rules set out in stage three of the Customer Agreement will apply.

Whether the Final Determination is accepted or rejected, there will be no further opportunity to appeal.