THE INSURANCE OMBUDSMAN BUREAU AND FINANCIAL SERVICES DISPUTES — AN OBITUARY?

This paper examines what the financial services industry expects from the Insurance Ombudsman Bureau. It measures the IOB's success in meeting these expectations against the yardsticks of public confidence and cost‐effectiveness. In the light of Lord Ackner's recently accepted recommendation that the IOB be replaced by a new Ombudsman scheme, this paper concludes that the IOB has failed' the industry by asserting the functions for which it was originally created.