LONDON, July 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Reporting on his first year as Chief Ombudsman with the company which runs four national ombudsman services, Lewis Shand Smith says 2009 saw the biggest increase in complaint numbers ever experienced.

"It is likely that the economic climate played some part in the dramatic rise. During times of recession, consumers become more concerned about financial security and are more likely to scrutinise bills and to question the services they pay for."

Lewis continues, "Inevitably things sometimes go wrong - when this happens there is an increased expectancy that there should be an ombudsman to sort the problem out."

With responsibility for Otelo - the Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman, the Energy Ombudsman, Ombudsman Services: Property and Ombudsman Services: PRS for Music, Lewis is confident that the company is well placed to continue to provide free to use, independent redress to consumers.

"An ombudsman service must strive to be better than those that are under its jurisdiction. We are putting in place every measure to ensure that we offer are soundly based, efficiently produced and that redress is timely and effective."

Lewis will present his annual reports to an audience of senior industry figures at an even at the House of Lords today.

Notes

1. Ombudsman Services is a not-for-profit private limited company which runs four private sector ombudsman schemes:

    
    - Otelo - the Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman
    - The Energy Ombudsman
    - Ombudsman Services: Property
    - Ombudsman Services: PRS for Music.

2. Each service is funded entirely by its industry members.

3. Otelo, The Energy Ombudsman and Ombudsman Services: Property have each received approval from industry regulators to provide independent redress. Ombudsman Services: PRS for Music is a voluntary scheme established to help PRS for Music meet best practice in the way it handles complaints.

4. Annual reports are available to download from the website http://www.ombudsman-services.org

5. Further information is available from the Communications Team on +44(0)1925-530-269 or at press@ombudsman-services.org