Insurance Law and the Financial Ombudsman Service
2
THE WORKINGS OF THE FOS
JURISDICTION OF THE FOS1
Compulsory, voluntary and consumer credit jurisdictions
2.1
The FOS now has three jurisdictions: (1) compulsory; (2) voluntary; and (3) consumer credit. It gained its powers and began operating under the first two types of jurisdiction on 1 December 2001. It acquired the third from 6 April 2007, under the Consumer Credit Act 2006, whereby businesses with consumer credit licences issued (and regulated) by the Office of Fair Trading are also covered by the FOS even if they are not also regulated by the FSA.