Claims management companies and solicitors have been unsuccessful on 73 per cent of claims they have brought to the Financial Ombudsman Service, according to figures obtained by Mortgage Strategy sister magazine Money Marketing in an exclusive.

Only 27 per cent of claims brought by ‘ambulance chasers’ went the way of the claimant, lower than the FOS’s average of 41 per cent for non-PPI cases.

Those seeking compensation for misselling would have a better chance if they went it alone, as they win some 36 per cent of cases when brought directly to the FOS.

A Freedom of Information request by Money Marketing found that that between April 2018 and February 2021, FOS resolved approximately 377,394 cases.

These were cases where the complaint was brought by a third party such as solicitors or CMCs, versus 499,833 complaints where the complaint was made by the complainant directly.

The figures cast doubt on how useful CMCs are for victims of financial misselling. Previous Money Marketing data revealed that many take a 30 per cent cut of compensation awards, and the FCA is trying to crackdown on those who are going after redress for their own past mistakes.

The FOI said in cases where the business, the complainant, or the third-party representative disagrees with the investigator’s initial assessment, a complaint is passed on to an ombudsman for a decision.

Since April 2018, it issued around 26,000 ombudsman decisions where the complaint was brought by a CMC, solicitor or other third-party representative, versus 86,122 where the complaint was brought directly.

Cases are also sometimes looked into by the Independent Assessor, whose primary role is to investigate complaints about the level of service it has provided.

Between the same period, FOS records show that the Independent Assessor received approximately 1,611 complaints. From these complaints, 1,473 were brought directly by the complainant, while only 138 were brought by the CMCs or solicitors.