Britain’s utility watchdogs have let water, energy and broadband firms build a digital wall, leaving desperate customers to fight through automated systems for any chance of useful help. At ReplyResearch...
Category - Regulation
New developments in regulation from the from the perspective of those receiving and responding to unsolicited enquiries
Richard Hall
The deafeningly silent watchdog: if they’re ignoring our MPs, what hope do we have?
Tesh and Iona’s nightmare is a matter of official public record, documented on the Financial Ombudsman’s own website. When an algorithm flagged unusual activity on their joint account, their bank completely froze their...
Stephen Walters
No ID needed to see an NHS GP, but when surgeries are mystery-shopped: No ID? No Doctor!
The NHS tells people they don’t need identification or proof of address to register with a GP. Recent mystery-shopping research shows what can happen when people actually ask. There’s a sources section further...
Peter Friedman
Who’s checking the food checkers?
The Food Standards Agency is supposed to know whether councils are enforcing food law. Its own September report admits the national picture is currently too unreliable for it to say confidently. The Food Standards...
Gabriel Fitzpatrick
Want to make a dangerous building safe? Wait for permission. Stay unsafe a year
The watchdog created to prevent another building-safety catastrophe has made some dangerous blocks wait months for permission to become safer. In London, the delay has approached an entire year. Seven months is now...
Jonathan Friedman
Wrong Bill? You Complain. Nothing Happens. Then Come The Bailiffs
Think your council-tax bill is wrong? Complain, then watch your right to appeal vanish Councils can leave residents trapped in complaints while tribunal deadlines expire. Then come court costs, bailiffs and even...
