13 February 2025
Thank you to all Participants who engaged with us regarding the Consultation Notice we sent out on 13 December (Notice).
We received very little feedback which was not unexpected given the nature of the changes proposed. You will recall that there were three documents (Documents) we attached to the Notice as follows:
- Amended Society Constitution
- Amended Terms of Reference
- Company Constitution
The Commission has now considered the feedback. There will be one amendment relating to the Company Constitution amending the definition of “independent” as contained in the definitions section. Board composition is already covered in clause 8 and the original draft of the definition was considered as unnecessary and too restrictive so has been amended to simply read:
“Independent means a person who does not have any other material interest or an association or relationship that may conflict with his/her duties as a Director”.
There will be no other changes to the Documents.
Next Steps
As mentioned in the Notice, the effective date of the restructure is 1 April 2025. From that date the Company will be called Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Limited. Prior to 1 April you will need to change the payee details for any payments in respect of the Scheme to the company name (and also to assist with meeting the bank payee requirements that all banks have recently implemented). We will remind you of this closer to the time but please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
Yours faithfully,
Karen Stevens
Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman