Ombudsman decisions

Searching published ombudsman decisions and case studies

Last checked 25 October 2026 · 5 sources

Short answer

Several financial ombudsmen publish their decisions or case studies online. The UK Financial Ombudsman Service has a database of final decisions published since 1 April 2013, searchable by business name and outcome ¹. Ireland's FSPO publishes legally binding decisions filtered by sector, product and outcome ². OBSI, FIDReC and South Africa's NFO publish case studies or rulings ^3,4 ⁵. The FOS says its decisions are not a definitive statement of the law or its approach ¹.

UK FOS database starts: Final decisions published since 1 April 2013 ¹
UK FOS outcome filter: Upheld or Not upheld ¹
Ireland FSPO outcome filter: Upheld, Substantially upheld, Partially upheld, Rejected ²
Ireland FSPO coverage on 25 October 2026: Decisions up to the end of March 2026, page updated 21 May 2026 ²
Singapore FIDReC case studies listed: 40 ⁴

Decisions, determinations, rulings and case studies

Bodies use different words for what they publish. The UK service publishes final decisions that its ombudsmen made on individual cases ¹. Ireland's FSPO publishes legally binding decisions ². South Africa's NFO publishes rulings ⁵.

A case study is different. OBSI and FIDReC publish short summaries of disputes that show how cases were handled ^3,4. A count of case studies is not a count of cases decided.

UK Financial Ombudsman Service decisions

The FOS database holds all final decisions published since 1 April 2013 under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended by the Financial Services Act 2012 ¹. The FOS says decisions are written so that the person or small business complaining cannot be identified ¹.

The FOS says the decisions are not a definitive statement of the law or its approach ¹. It says individual cases are decided on the unique circumstances of each case ¹.

Keyword or product ¹
Business name ¹
Financial sector, including banking, credit and mortgages, investment and pensions, insurance, payment protection insurance, claims management and funeral plans ¹
Date from and date to ¹
Decision outcome, upheld or not upheld ¹

Ireland: FSPO legally binding decisions

The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman publishes a searchable database of its legally binding decisions ². The page said on 25 October 2026 that it was last updated on 21 May 2026 with decisions up to the end of March 2026, so newer decisions were not yet included ². The year filter runs from 2018 to 2026 ².

FSPO filter	Examples given on the page
Sector	Banking, Insurance, Investment ²
Product or service	Mortgage, Motor, Pension, Life ²
Conduct complained of	Claim Handling, Mis-selling, Arrears handling ²
Outcome	Upheld, Substantially upheld, Partially upheld, Rejected ²
Other	Year and decision reference number ²

Canada, Singapore and South Africa

OBSI, Canada: case studies tagged as banking or investments, with dates. Firms appear under labels such as Bank A, and consumers by an initial such as Ms. Y ³.
FIDReC, Singapore: 40 case studies with generic titles on topics such as lost cards, scams, insurance claims and investments ⁴.
NFO, South Africa: a rulings page with tiles linking to full rulings. Several ruling titles name the insurer or bank, and summaries refer to the complainant without a name ⁵.

What published decisions do not show

Published decisions are not a definitive statement of the law, as the FOS states ¹.
Outcome labels differ. The FOS uses upheld or not upheld. The FSPO has four outcome labels including substantially upheld and partially upheld ^1,2.
Databases can lag. The FSPO database ran to the end of March 2026 when checked on 25 October 2026 ².
Case studies are chosen examples. Firms and consumers are often given letters in place of names, as on the OBSI page ³.
A database holds only the decisions that were published, so the share of upheld decisions in it is not an uphold rate for all complaints ^1,2.

Common questions

Can I search Financial Ombudsman Service decisions by company?

Yes. The FOS database has a business name filter, along with keyword, sector, date and outcome filters ¹.

Are ombudsman decisions binding precedent?

The FOS says its published decisions are not a definitive statement of the law or its approach ¹.

Does the FOS publish the name of the person who complained?

No. The FOS says decisions are written so the person or small business complaining cannot be identified ¹.

Where are Irish FSPO decisions published?

On the FSPO's page of legally binding decisions, searchable by sector, product, conduct, outcome, year and reference number ².

Does FIDReC publish its decisions?

FIDReC publishes case studies. Its case studies page lists 40, with generic titles such as a lost credit card or alleged mis-selling at a bank branch ⁴.

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Sources

How ombudsman decisions work
How financial ombudsman schemes in the UK, Canada, India and Ireland reach decisions, when they bind a firm, award limits and the routes to appeal.
Upheld and not upheld explained
What upheld, not upheld, partially upheld and similar labels mean at the UK FOS, the FCA, Ireland's FSPO, AFCA, the RBI Ombudsman, OBSI and the CFPB.
Financial Ombudsman Service uphold rates
UK Financial Ombudsman Service uphold rates for 2025/26 and recent quarters, by product, with case volumes, award limits and what upheld means.
Singapore's FIDReC: claims data, outcomes and rules
How Singapore's Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre handles claims, what its FY2024/2025 annual report shows and when an award binds a firm.
South Africa's National Financial Ombud Scheme and its complaint data
What the National Financial Ombud Scheme (NFO) covers, how a complaint reaches it, and what its published case and recovery figures show.