by David Chaplin
The ISO board last week approved the move to broaden its service to accommodate the new regulatory regime due to hit the industry next year.
Ombudsman Karen Stevens said the ISO would provide a single point of contact for consumers covering complaints about product, manufacturers and financial advice.
Under its current rules the ISO, which is funded by member insurance and superannuation firms, has been unable to rule on complaints about financial advice.
She said while the details are yet to be finalised a more comprehensive ISO service would benefit consumers.
"If consumers have to go to other [complaints] providers they may need to go through two or three processes to get the same complaint sorted out," Stevens said.
She said the ISO was likely to target qualifying financial entities (QFEs) initially but has not ruled out offering a disputes resolution service to the independent advisory market.
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