Total Representation Family member or friend 2,414 The dispute resolution service FOS provides is a free and Business director/owner 1,255 accessible alternative to court. Applicants do not need legal or financial advice or representation to come to us, nor do they Consumer advocate private/paid 1,104 – need to pay anyone to represent them. But we recognise that Solicitor private 568 – some applicants may prefer to have someone lodge their Financial counsellor* 345 dispute for them or act on their behalf during the dispute Business employee 255 resolution process. Insurance broker 210 In 2016-17, a total of 7,072 applicants used a representative to Financial advisor 174 lodge a dispute with FOS. This was one-sixth (16%) more than last year. The type of representative applicants most commonly Solicitor community/pro bono* 166 – chose was a family member or friend (34%). The proportion of Power of Attorney 145 disputes lodged by representatives (18%) was the same as last Accountant 125 year. Consumer advocate community/unpaid* 75 – Many people in financial difficulty seek the help of a consumer Executor 58 representative. This year, consumer representatives including Co-trustee 50 financial counsellors, Legal Aid and community lawyers from 168 community-based organisations (134 last year) helped Trustee affected party 50 Australians lodge 586 disputes with FOS (484 last year). Legal guardian 37 The number of applicants using a fee-for-service agent (who Policyholder 29 charge consumers a fee for providing representation) increased Member of Parliament 12 9%, following similar increases in the past two years. Total 7,072 Received disputes by type of representative * Consumer representatives Geographic distribution of disputes lodged by consumer representatives Disputes lodged by consumer representatives by product line
Representation The dispute resolution service FOS provides is a free and accessible alternative to court. Applicants do not need legal or financial advice or representation to come to us, nor do they need to pay anyone to represent them. But we recognise that some applicants may prefer to have someone lodge their dispute for them or act on their behalf during the dispute resolution process. In 2016-17, a total of 7,072 applicants used a representative to lodge a dispute with FOS. This was one-sixth (16%) more than last year. The type of representative applicants most commonly chose was a family member or friend (34%). The proportion of disputes lodged by representatives (18%) was the same as last year. Many people in financial difficulty seek the help of a consumer representative. This year, consumer representatives including financial counsellors, Legal Aid and community lawyers from 168 community-based organisations (134 last year) helped Australians lodge 586 disputes with FOS (484 last year). The number of applicants using a fee-for-service agent (who charge consumers a fee for providing representation) increased 9%, following similar increases in the past two years. Received disputes by type of representative Total Family member or friend 2,414 Business director/owner 1,255 Consumer advocate – private/paid 1,104 Solicitor – private 568 Financial counsellor* 345 Business employee 255 Insurance broker 210 Financial advisor 174 Solicitor – community/pro bono* 166 Power of Attorney 145 Accountant 125 Consumer advocate – community/unpaid* 75 Executor 58 Co-trustee 50 Trustee affected party 50 Legal guardian 37 Policyholder 29 Member of Parliament 12 Total 7,072 * Consumer representatives Geographic distribution of disputes lodged by consumer representatives Disputes lodged by consumer representatives by product line
fos-annual-review-20162016-word.docx