The BBRS’ Contemporary Scheme closed to new registrations, as planned, at midnight on 13 December 2024.

The BBRS will remain open to resolve complaints for the customers that registered before the deadline. The BBRS’ dispute resolution experts remain committed to ensuring that these cases go through the full appropriate case resolution journey.

BBRS’ Contemporary Scheme, which has now closed, covered incidents since 2019.  The scheme was given an extension to operate for twelve months before closing. The Historical Scheme, which reviewed cases from 2001-19, closed on 14 February 2023. In preparation for the closure the BBRS has left no stone unturned to inform potential customers and stakeholders about the closure date including a targeted campaign with over 48 million Opportunities to See (OTS).

Following the closure of the BBRS to new registrations, BBRS Chief Executive Mark Grimshaw said:

“Despite our extensive promotional efforts with over 140 million OTS, the number of cases anticipated at the launch of our service never materialised.

We have however looked at every case we received with independence, professionalism and fairness according to our Scheme Rules which were unanimously agreed by SMEs and banks at the launch of the BBRS. Despite having lower numbers than expected the BBRS  has helped many SME owners reach a resolution with their banks.

We will remain open to resolve the last cases on our books and will announce the next stages in the closure of the BBRS. My thanks to our staff and stakeholders for their support which has allowed the BBRS to perform its important mission.”

Ends.

Contact: Media@theBBRS.org

Notes to editors

• The BBRS was formed as a resolution service for a small and clearly defined section of the SME banking market. Since the expansion of the Financial Ombudsman Service for Business in April 2019, estimates suggest that this support covers 99% of the SME market. The BBRS was set up to cover a small layer of businesses just outside of the FOS upper limit on turnover size of £6.5m.¹
• The eligibility criteria for the BBRS were agreed unanimously before it was launched by the Implementation Steering Group (ISG), which was comprised of bank and SME representatives (including the Federation of Small Businesses, SME Alliance, British Chambers of Commerce, APPG on Fair Business Banking, Institute of Directors and Confederation of British Industry). The process was supported by independent legal advice and overseen by UK Finance/HM Treasury and the FCA (including the FCA’s SME Advisory Group chair).
• The key eligibility criteria agreed by the ISG for the BBRS included:
  • A business turnover of less than £10m at the time they complained to their bank and above the threshold of £6.5m (below this threshold would normally qualify them to use the services of the Financial Ombudsman Service).
  • The issue must relate to a business banking complaint against one of the seven participating banks.
  • To be eligible for the Contemporary Scheme, the incident complained about must have taken place on or after 1 April 2019.
  • The complaint must not have been through litigation or have been settled already.
• The BBRS was set up for an initial period of three years to resolve eligible complaints through its Historical and Contemporary Schemes. This follows the completion of an FCA Review of Financial Ombudsman Service thresholds and a recent Treasury Select Committee Inquiry into SME Finance which concluded that the BBRS should close as originally planned.
• The BBRS continued to receive case registrations until midnight on 13 December 2024 and will ensure that all cases which registered with us before the scheme closed to new registrations are processed as normal.
• Our customer satisfaction data shows that our customers believed we did a good job:
  • 70% of customers surveyed do not believe they would have received a resolution if they hadn’t come to the BBRS.
  • 87% of customers agreed or strongly agreed the application was simple to complete, based on data from those who raised their complaint after the BBRS’ launched. This indicates that as processes have improved, so has satisfaction with the application process.
  • 87% of customers told us they felt the reasons behind the decision had been made adequately clear to them, which shows the BBRS has done a good job communicating resolution outcomes to customers.
  • 80% of customers felt that they had received a great deal of help from their Customer Champion (case registration support officer) in setting out their complaint.

As part of this effort to reach customers with the closure announcement , the BBRS has:

• Targeted regional and trade media publications;
• Posted and advertised on social media, reaching an estimated 140m users, achieving over 48m Opportunities to See on BBRS adverts since June 2024;
• Worked with business group stakeholders on social media posts, e-newsletters and co-authored website blogs. Stakeholders who worked with the BBRS in 2024 include the British Chambers of Commerce, Institute of Directors, Institute of Chartered Certified Accountants in England and Wales, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Small Business Commissioner.

^{[1] See page 4 (point 1) of UK Finance’s response to the Walker Review: https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/system/files/Industry-Response-to-Walker-Review.pdf}