To mark OmbudsDay, we’ve caught up with ombudsman Sadie Marshall to find out about her career background and the importance of her role for consumers and businesses.
After graduating with a law degree from the University of Sussex, Sadie went on to investigate and resolve disputes within financial services.
She spent four years at the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), initially as an adjudicator, and then as an investigator. She resolved disputes in several different financial areas, including insurance, mortgages, pensions, and investments.
Sadie then continued resolving disputes and issuing final stage appeals at the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) prior to joining The Motor Ombudsman in her current role.
“There’s always something new to be thinking about and to take into consideration when making decisions on cases”
TMO: What led you to pursue a career in the sphere of dispute resolution?
SM: I studied law at university, so I always had a desire to deal with disputes within the legal sphere. I volunteered at my local Citizens Advice Bureau during my studies and enjoyed giving advice directly to the public. It felt like a natural progression to go straight into an Ombudsman setting and work for the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) after university, an organisation which deals with thousands of customer claims against financial businesses every year.
Helping people who have suffered a loss felt like the right role to transition into after completing my degree, where I was able to continue giving advice and build up my skills in investigating and making decisions on an array of different disputes.
TMO: What have been some of your career highlights to date?
SM: I was able to move into different roles at the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which allowed me to get exposure to different product areas. I specifically dealt with the most complex cases, and focused on helping those customers who were facing extremely difficult times whilst their dispute was ongoing. I have been lucky enough to work in two companies that have had the passion and desire to help consumers and change industry standards, which has directly influenced why I work in these roles. There are some significant cases I have dealt with, where individuals could have lost everything without my involvement. That’s the most rewarding part of what I do.
It has been interesting switching to an Ombudsman in a different sector, where I am able to compare how different Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) bodies function. I therefore look to apply positive ways of working and best practice of handling disputes within the role that I do.
TMO: How does working in the automotive industry differ from resolving disputes in the financial sector?
SM: The financial sector is entirely regulated, so when dealing with disputes, the business provides the Ombudsman with everything it needs to make a decision, subject to the information being available. Most financial transactions or agreements are documented and recorded, so evidence can be gathered easily. However, in the automotive sector, both customers and businesses are not always able to provide the evidence needed to support their case i.e. if something was agreed verbally, for example.
Therefore, this can make forming decisions a little more difficult, and requires an element of digging on some cases to try and get to the bottom of the root cause of the dispute.
TMO: What does the working day generally look like?
SM: My main role is to issue final decisions, so the day is normally taken up reading cases, the supporting evidence and then writing decisions. If a case has lots of documentation, and is quite complex, this can sometimes take up a whole day to reach a conclusion.
If I get more straightforward cases, then I can also keep up with any administrative tasks alongside contacting customers and businesses depending on if more information is needed on a case. I also spend some parts of the week having discussions with the other ombudsmen, discussing complex cases, which helps us align our ways of thinking and tackling difficult cases. I also spend time giving feedback to adjudicators where necessary to ensure the quality of all our cases is in line with the expected Ombudsman standards.
TMO: How varied are the disputes that you work on, given the scope of areas that The Motor Ombudsman’s Codes of Practice cover?
SM: We have some areas that give rise to more disputes than others, but in terms of the facts of each case, every complaint that reaches us is different. So, whilst we get a lot of complaints around the sale of vehicles, the facts about what happened in each dispute varies, so this gives rise to its own individual outcome. This means that there’s always something new to be thinking about and to take into consideration when making decisions on cases.
TMO: What consumer legislation do you tend to take into account alongside the Codes when issuing a final decision?
SM: When coming to a final decision, we mainly refer to the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the Equality Act 2010, negligence laws, and contract law – amongst others.
TMO: What is the most satisfying aspect of being an ombudsman?
SM: From a consumer point of view, lots of customers can be left in a really difficult position when something goes wrong, and so being able to help those people and try to put things right can be very rewarding.
From a business perspective, we can also provide valuable insights, as we look at cases from an impartial view, and so educating businesses on things that can be better within their standard practice can also be rewarding, as this really does drive change in the industry.
TMO: What do you think are the most challenging parts of your role?
SM: When looking at a dispute, we hear about things that are said by one or both parties, but sometimes there isn’t any documented evidence of this, so trying to piece together what happened can be difficult at times.
On some occasions, the business and the customer can provide information that appears to be conflicting, and so trying to unravel any contrasting evidence can be a challenging part of the role. Normally these cases require further work, and more questions need to be asked to try and build an accurate picture of what happened in order to reach a fair outcome for all involved.
We also have the task of sometimes telling customers that their complaint is not upheld, and we can no longer help them with their dispute. As we are the final stage of the process, this can often be difficult, especially for consumers who have invested a lot of time and have lost money.
TMO: What advice would you give to those who are interested in following a similar professional career path?
SM: Get as much case work experience as you can where you deal with a wide range of customers and businesses along with a variety of disputes. The more topics and disputes that you are exposed to, the greater the level of experience and expertise you will naturally accumulate.
Don’t be put off by complex cases, and try and take on as many difficult issues, as these are ultimately the cases that provide the most opportunity for learning and growth.
Dealing with complaints and disputes can of course be difficult, so make sure you have the right work/life balance so that your mind isn’t constantly focusing on disputes. It can be quite exhausting at times, so it’s important you have an effective way to unwind or have fun outside of working hours!
TMO: What do you like to do to relax in your spare time? We hear you have just come back from a holiday in the Pyrenees?
SM: I practice yoga daily, which helps me stay grounded and calm in what can often be a stressful role. I did spend some time in the south of France hiking the French Pyrenees, which was lots of fun! My holidays are normally spent in nature and beautiful surroundings to counteract the amount of time I spend looking at a screen, week in, week out. It’s all about balance!
Interview conducted in October 2022.
Read our Q&A with our ombudsman Roy Milne here.
