How we helped over 2,000 customers in four days

From FSCS Chief Operating Officer Jimmy Barber:

Our Chief Executive Caroline Rainbird recently told you about the measures we’ve taken to adapt our service during COVID-19 to make sure we continue to help our customers during this challenging time.

I thought you might like to see the numbers behind these efforts, to give you an idea of what a week looks like at FSCS at the moment.

In the four days from 14 to 17 April, we helped 2,083 customers. Here are the details:                          

• We delivered 396 claim decisions – 93% of our overall goal and exceeding some teams’ targets.
• We made 205 insurance payments, returning nearly £1.3 million to our insurance customers.
• We've paid £5.3m in non-insurance claims.
• We helped 1,482 customers with their questions, claim applications and complaints. This included speaking to anxious customers to help with their claims or to give advice and reassurance.
• We responded to customer complaints in an average of just seven days – well ahead of our 20-day target.
• We answered 90% of your phone calls within one minute and replied to your webchat queries within 15 seconds (find the webchat button on the bottom-right of this page).

We also wanted to tell you that the time it takes us to complete claims hasn’t changed since the COVID-19 outbreak – we’re still processing claims at our usual speed.

Some customers have contacted us to say that they want to claim against a financial services firm that’s still in business. FSCS can only deal with claims against firms that have failed, so if your firm is still operating, contact them first to see if they can sort things out. If that doesn’t work, get in touch with the Financial Ombudsman Service who can help with your complaint.

We’ll keep you up to date with how we’re continuing to help our customers and process claims. In the meantime, stay safe.

Visit our COVID-19 page for more information and to find out how to avoid some FSCS-related coronavirus scams that have emerged.