Ombudsman

Connecticut lawmakers consider establishing a condominium ombudsman

Lawmakers are considering a bill that would establish an ombudsman who would be charged with resolving disputes between condo owners and associations.

Several owners testified in favor of the measure at a public hearing before the legislature's Judiciary Committee on Friday. They said an ombudsman would protect their interests and foster greater transparency regarding the workings of condominium associations.

The ombudsman would operate within the state Department of Consumer Protection.

South Africa's financial services accused of not giving complaint handlers the power to treat consumers fairly

The financial services industry needs to ask itself why more regulation is necessary, Judge Brian Galgut, the Ombudsman for Long-term Insurance, told the Association for Savings & Investment SA’s annual convention this week.

The reason is that consumers have no bargaining power, Galgut says. Financial services companies simply lay down what consumers must do, whereas consumers are captive and powerless.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman makes recommendations to improve complaint handling

Recommendations:

The Ombudsman has recommended that US Citizenship and Immigration Services:

Establish a better means of informing the public how to submit general complaints; and
Publish the collected complaint data for public scrutiny.

Reasons:

Maghaberry prison note 'planted by officer': Ombudsman

Police have launched an investigation after the prisoner ombudsman said a prison officer planted a note containing personal details about the governor of Maghaberry jail.

The note was found in the cell of a dissident republican suspect in December 2009. The governor at the time, Steve Rodford, resigned a short time later because of fears he was under threat.

Pauline McCabe has completed a 15 month investigation into the incident. She concluded the note was hidden in the cell by a member of staff opposed to planned reforms at the prison.

BBC 'needs complaints ombudsman'

The BBC needs an independent ombudsman to deal with complaints against it, the corporation's former chairman Lord Grade said today.

He told the House of Lords Communications Committee complaining to the corporation was "a grizzly experience".

Australia's Telco ombudsman aims to rectify industry opposition

The telecommunications industry ombudsman has signalled increased efforts to change internal processes and structures in an effort to better communicate with telcos and service providers in handling and resolving complaints.

Panel raps University of Georgia's handling of harassment complaints

University of Georgia administrators have not followed through on a promise to clamp down on sexual harassment on campus, according to a committee appointed to review how the university handles harassment complaints.

ACMA chair warns Australia's telcos of tighter customer service regulation

A year after he launched the ACMA's 'Reconnecting the Customer' enquiry into customer service in the telecommunications industry, ACMA chairman, Chris Chapman, has signalled strongly that the outcome will be tougher regulation, as he continues to pan the industry's customer service standards.

Florida bills would restrict state's nursing-home Ombudsman

Florida's Republican lawmakers have introduced more than a dozen bills that critics claim will "neuter" the long-term care ombudsman program.

The state Department of Elder Affairs has also notified Florida's 400 mostly volunteer ombudsmen, instructing them not to speak to the media without alerting a district manager about the conversation and detailing the questions asked.

Ontario to expand access to some drugs after cancer victim complaint

Ontario is expanding access to certain cancer drugs in the wake of a controversy sparked by a breast cancer patient who was denied a potentially life-saving treatment because her tumour was deemed too small.

Jill Anzarut, 35, ignited the firestorm after she publicly complained that the province refused to pay for Herceptin because her tumour was a half-centimetre in diameter. Only tumours larger than one centimetre qualify in Ontario.