New urgency to clear decks

Banking Ombudsman Deborah Battell. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Disgruntled bank customers can take heart that the Banking Ombudsman's office has stepped up efforts to clear its complaints backlog.

The Herald on Sunday previously reported that the number of cases investigated by the Ombudsman's office has trebled in the past year as bank customers have hit financial difficulty, creating a lengthy waiting list.

In one case, Auckland homeowner David Gordon is still awaiting a decision on a break fee dispute with Westpac, after lodging the complaint in February.

He has had no indication of when the office may give a decision, and Gordon says he could face a mortgagee sale in the meantime.

The new Banking Ombudsman Deborah Battell, who took over from Liz Brown last month, says staff are now reviewing all current cases and those on the waiting list to identify straightforward ones and "get them off the books as quickly as we can".

Battell said the size of the backlog was creating a "psychological burden" for everybody in the office.

"Some cases are more easily resolved than others. We want to get those that don't take a lot of time to deal with resolved as quickly as we possibly can."

But Battell says the investigation process involves liaison with the banks - and "banks are finding it challenging to meet the time-frame expectations we have".

She is undaunted at having come into the role under pressure. "If there were no issues to deal with, it would be pretty boring."

She says it's a good time to come in and try to resolve the issues facing the organisation. "Sometimes when a new person comes in, it's often easier to get a change."

While the office has been doing "extremely well", Battell says "sometimes you get to the point where it's in crisis because of workloads and waiting lists of up to 180, and it's a situation that is not sustainable".

It will take some time to clear the backlog, Battell says.