ombudsman schemes exist to investigate and resolve disputes for citizens and consumers in the United Kingdom (including its devolved countries of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), in Ireland and also in some of the British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories.
They deal with complaints about most public services and some private services, although the latter are quite limited and currently are mainly (although not exclusively) in regulated areas.
There are also Complaint Handler Members of the Association which have similar functions to ombudsman schemes but do not meet all of the criteria for Ombudsman membership.
Only certain private organisations/sectors are currently covered by ombudsman schemes, as follows:
ombudsman schemes in Ireland exist in only very limited private sector areas, currently:
The membership in Ireland meets as a group in the Irish Ombudsman Forum. The Forum discusses issues pertinent to Ireland in particular and allows Association members to share experience and exchange ideas. The Forum meets approximately four times a year and is currently chaired by a member of the Executive Committee, Kieran FitzGerald.
For complaints about most government departments and their agencies, and public services:
All of the schemes in the sections above are full ‘Ombudsman Members’ of the Association (even if they do not have ‘Ombudsman’ in their title) and therefore conform to the criteria for Ombudsman Membership.
In addition, there are many Complaint Handler Members of the Association, some of which have similar functions to ombudsman schemes but do not meet all of the criteria for Ombudsman membership (even if they do have ‘Ombudsman’ in their title!). They do generally however meet the requirements for Complaint Handler Membership.
In some cases, it is necessary to bring a complaint to one of the relevant Complaint Handlers before going on to the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman if the complaint remains unresolved.
A full list of Complaint Handler Members is available here - they cover the following areas:
Ombudsman schemes exist to investigate and resolve disputes for citizens and consumers in the United Kingdom (including its devolved countries of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), in Ireland and also in some of the British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories.
They deal with complaints about most public services and some private services, although there is not universal coverage in the latter.
There are also Complaint Handler Members of the Association which have similar functions to an ombudsman but do not meet all of the criteria for Ombudsman membership.
Only certain private organisations/sectors are currently covered by ombudsman schemes, as follows:
Ombudsman schemes in Ireland exist in only very limited private sector areas, currently:
For complaints about most government departments and their agencies, and public services:
All of the schemes in the sections above are full ‘Ombudsman Members’ of the Association (even if they do not have ‘Ombudsman’ in their title) and therefore conform to the criteria for Ombudsman Membership.
In addition, there are many Complaint Handler Members of the Association, some of which have similar functions to an ombudsman but do not meet all of the criteria for Ombudsman membership. They do however meet the requirements for Complaint Handler Membership.
In some cases, it is necessary to bring a complaint to one of the relevant Complaint Handlers before going on to the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman if the complaint remains unresolved.
A full list of Complaint Handler Members is available here - they cover the following areas:
Please note: there are currently no ombudsman schemes for many areas of consumer goods and services.
For advice and information about consumer goods and services, you should contact:
In the UK:
Citizens Advice Consumer Service Tel. 0345 404 0506
In Ireland:
Citizens Information Board
Tel. 0761 07 4000
