Ombudsman Services beefs up complaints team

Ombudsman Services, one of three redress schemes for estate and letting agents, is beefing up its team with the appointment of the former chief executive of a legal complaints body.

Dr Matthew Vickers, former CEO of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, becomes deputy chief ombudsman at the Warrington-based redress scheme. Vickers will represent the organisation nationally and internationally and help deliver what Ombudsman Services call its growth strategy.'

Ombudsman Services is a much larger organisation than many in the property sector may expect, serving as an independent complaints service for communications, energy and copyright companies; in 2014 alone it recruited an additional 200 staff.

In addition to being one of the three mandatory redress schemes for the property sector, it has also been appointed by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Association of Residential Managing Agents to handle complaints about their members.

This is a timely appointment for us as we look to grow our business and help even more consumers and businesses across the UK access the benefits of independent complaint handling according to Lewis Shand Smith, chief ombudsman at the service.