A Brisbane broker says he must wait almost three months before the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) can consider his client’s complaint.

It comes less than a year after FOS introduced a new dispute resolution system designed to eliminate such queues.

Strata Insurance Solutions MD Tyrone Shandiman lodged a complaint on behalf of a client but was told it would take 11 weeks before it was allocated to someone for consideration.

Last August Chief Ombudsman Shane Tregillis said FOS had eliminated its dispute backlog, meaning no disputes were left unallocated for more than seven days.

“I am very surprised it would take so long just to allocate the complaint and not even get to a point of reviewing it,” Mr Shandiman told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“If the body responsible for governance of our industry – and in particular ensuring financial service providers meets service standards – can’t meet a reasonable standard itself, what hope do we have?”

FOS moved to the new dispute resolution process last July. It features a system for fast-tracking decisions on simpler and low-value disputes, and a registration and referral process to give financial services providers a final chance to resolve disputes with customers before intervention.

FOS spokesman Veronica McGowan told insuranceNEWS.com.au there is currently a queue of work in some areas, including general insurance.

“We have had an increase in the number of disputes we are handling,” she said. “We have a number of initiatives in place, including allocating additional resources where they are most needed.”

Ms McGowan says the time taken for a dispute to be allocated depends on “a number of factors”, including the case’s nature and complexity.

“Where circumstances of urgency are brought to our attention, we will prioritise the dispute for allocation.”

Mr Shandiman says FOS should follow a service charter like the rest of the industry.

Ms McGowan could not disclose figures on the current number of insurance complaints, but says they will feature in the annual review in September.