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BBRS Reporting Data – as of the close of business 31 March 2023

28 April 2023

As of 31 March 2023, the BBRS has resolved 92 cases, of which 75 received a financial settlement and 17 received a non-financial settlement.

Of those who received a financial settlement, 25 were the result of adjudications and 50 were settled directly between the parties following BBRS involvement. Of those resolved directly, nine cases were resolved in conciliation agreements, and a further two were successfully mediated.

Non-financial awards issued following BBRS intervention include the rearranging of lending terms and conditions, discharges from personal guarantees and debt recovery rearrangements.

Substantially more than £1 million of financial awards have been made to SMEs as a result of BBRS intervention so far, across the different methods used to resolve disputes. When cases move to direct settlement between the SME and bank following BBRS intervention, sometimes the agreed redress amount is not disclosed to the BRBS, and so this figure is likely to be significantly higher.

March 2023 represented the first complete reporting month following the closure of the Historical Complaints Scheme. The BBRS is funded to continue until the end of 2023 and remains open to process historical complaints registered before the deadline and for new registrations to the Contemporary Complaints Scheme.

1 – Count of registrations

The total number of cases registered with the BBRS. These figures do not consider eligibility or account for duplicates.

Total Previous month Difference
Historical Scheme Total 525 523 2
Contemporary Scheme Total 220 212 8
Dual Scheme Total1 18 18 0
Unestablished Date of Complaint 183 185 -2
Total 946 938 82
  1. Cases which potentially have components relating to both Historical and Contemporary schemes.
  2. Number of cases registered with the BBRS between 1-31 March.

2 – Case Status

Cases may be closed for a variety of reasons, for example the removal of duplicate cases, withdrawals or ineligibility.

Total Previous month Difference
Open Cases1 73 82 -9
Closed Cases2 873 856 17
Total 946 938 8
  1. Live includes all active cases regardless of eligibility. This includes cases to be allocated. As of 31 March 2023 there were 7 cases awaiting allocation.
  2. Cases now closed.

3 – Eligibility

The BBRS treats all cases as eligible until we have established the facts relating to each complaint. When a complaint is first assembled, information is collected to check eligibility.

Total
:

Open cases progressing currently as eligible1

Total :

68

:

Open cases assessed as ineligible2

Total :

5

:

Closed cases assessed as ineligible3

Total :

149

:

Closed cases assessed as eligible4

Total :

20

:

Closed cases without an assessment of eligibility5

Total :

704

:

Total

Total :

946

  1. As eligibility is under review throughout the entire BBRS process, most live cases appear in this category.
  2. The number of cases found to be ineligible and remaining live, because the customer or bank may be appealing, they might be being considered for the concessionary case approach or pending closure.
  3. The number of cases found to be ineligible for the BBRS through formal Eligibility Assessments that have completed their journey (i.e. the outcome can no longer be appealed).
  4. The number of cases found to be eligible for the BBRS through formal Eligibility Assessments that have completed their journey (i.e. the outcome can no longer be appealed). Eligible cases that did not require a formal Eligibility Assessment are not in this category.
  5. The number of cases that have completed their journey for reasons unrelated to eligibility.

4 – Reasons for Ineligibility

The table below captures the reasons for ineligibility, not the number of ineligible cases. A case may have multiple reasons for being found ineligible. This also captures instances where a case has not received a formal Eligibility Assessment, but where a customer chooses to withdraw a case because of its ineligibility.

:

Case was likely to be eligible for Financial Ombudsman Service

Total :

107

:

At the time the case was referred to the bank, the business did not meet the required BBRS financial criteria for turnover and/or balance sheet limit.

Total :

93

:

Cases eligible for another scheme

Total :

29

:

Settled prior to registration

Total :

22

:

Part of the case is time barred1

Total :

21

:

The case has been the subject of a court claim, or formal pre-action correspondence

Total :

15

:

The incident(s) occurred pre 01/12/2001

Total :

13

:

Bank complained about is not a participating bank

Total :

9

:

Bank complained about is not based in the UK (or the act or omission did not occur in the UK)

Total :

4

:

The complaint is subject to a live litigation

Total :

4

:

Total

Total :

317

  1. The complaint was not brought to the bank within the time limits (in general, more than six years after the act or omission complained of or three years after the customer became aware of the act or omission).

5 – Concessionary Cases

If a case falls outside the BBRS’ eligibility criteria, the BBRS may still be able to consider it provided that we, the customer and the bank all agree.

Total
:

Concessionary cases presented to bank1

Total :

41

:

Concessionary case progression agreed by bank2

Total :

9

:

Concessionary case progression declined by bank3

 

Total :

29

:

Awaiting Bank Response

Total :

3

  1. The number of cases where the BBRS has written to the bank to seek their agreement to consider a case falling outside the BBRS’ eligibility criteria.
  2. The number of cases where the bank has agreed that the BBRS can consider a case falling outside the BBRS’ eligibility criteria under the concessionary case process.
  3. The number of cases where the bank has not agreed that the BBRS can consider a case falling outside the BBRS’ eligibility criteria under the concessionary case process. 11 of these cases were taken forward, either as partly eligible, or taken back by the bank and settled.

6 – Determinations

Both parties to a complaint have the opportunity to respond to a Provisional Determination before the resultant Determination is issued. Any responses to the Provisional Determination will be taken into account before the issuing of the Determination.

Determinations1
Total Provisional Determinations issued2 58
Total resultant Determinations issued3 50
Outcomes (closed cases only)4
Upheld 4
Partially upheld 22
Not upheld 16
Total 42
  1. These figures account for all determinations issued.
  2. All eligible cases have a Provisional Determination, which is like a draft outcome, available for comments from both parties.
  3. After a set timeframe and any further submissions from either party, a Provisional Determination becomes a resultant Determination.
  4. These figures account for all cases that have completed their journey (i.e. the outcome can no longer be appealed).

7 – Eligibility Appeals

Total
Eligibility Appeal notices received 76
No grounds for appeal1 60
Appeal notices considered 14
Eligibility Appeal notices being considered 1
Appeal withdrawn 1
  1. The BBRS can only consider an Appeal that meets the permissible grounds for appealing an outcome. If an Appeal does not meet the permissible grounds, it will not be considered.

8 – Awards (closed cases only)1

Total
Financial awards issued2 25
Non-financial awards issued 17
Total 42
  1. These figures account for all cases that have completed their journey (i.e. the outcome can no longer be appealed). This figure does not include any settlements made via non-adjudicative alternative dispute resolution or direct settlement as these are confidential between the bank and the customer.
  2. This also captures any financial awards issued for Distress and Inconvenience, regardless of whether a complaint is substantively upheld.