Post on 20-Aug-2020
Trust in ADR: what people expect Annual ADR Conference Oxford 2016
Dr Naomi Creutzfeldt
ESRC Research Fellow /Lecturer in Law, University of Westminster
Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford (Associate)
THANK YOU
ESRC for funding my project
All participating ombudsmen and their staff
My colleagues for support, encouragement, and feedback
Hope that my findings can contribute to understand users expectations better and to refine some processes
Outline
My project
Method
My sample
Some of my findings
What next?
Trusting the middle-man: impact and legitimacy of ombudsmen in Europe
Peoples perceptions of fairness and trust in informal justice
1. What explains users' perceptions of fairness and trust vis-a-vis ombudsmen institutions?
2. How do cultural frameworks influence citizens use of ombudsmen?
Participating ombudsmen
Differences and the search for similarities
All participating ADR bodies are different!
Typical person who responds to a survey? Timing of response.
Terminology (ombudsman)
The survey – common stages in the complaint process First contact The procedure The outcome The overall satisfaction
Method
Consumer satisfaction survey sent out by ombudsmen to their customers who recently went through their procedure by post
by email - online link
September 2014 – March/May 2015
Theories
Procedural fairness Neutrality / Respect / being heard / Voice
Legitimacy (1) a moral obligation to obey the decisions of this authority;
(2) that it is acting in a lawful manner; and
(3) that it operates according to a normative framework they themselves share.
Procedurally just / fair
Outcome acceptance and
compliance
Legitimacy and trust
A few survey questions
Could you briefly state, in your own words, what the problem was you contacted the Ombuds service about?
What did you expect the ombuds to do for you?
A few survey questions
What was your impression of the staff when you first contacted the ombuds? Helpful Understood my problem Seemed to know what they were talking about Treated me with respect and courtesy Seemed trustworthy / seemed to act with good intent Seemed interested in hearing my story Seemed unbiased and neutral Were unhelpful Not sure, can’t remember
A few survey questions
I feel a moral obligation to follow the ombuds recommendation
I have confidence in the ombuds
The ombuds acting according to the law
Likert scale response (5 point scale)
The project report
Here are a few examples of my comparative findings
The project report (publish next month) will include a comprehensive overview. Overall sample / by country / by ombuds / public &
private
https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/trusting-middle-man-impact-and-legitimacy-ombudsmen-europe
The sample
Project sample size: 3,190
UK (1,310)
Germany (1,466)
France (414)
Private / public distribution
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
private ombuds (2577)
public ombuds (613)
Total complaints per ombudsman
Results
Qualitative
Quantitative
Results
Public sector ombudsman – seeking accountability
‘… address the issues; make them accountable for their mistakes so that the same problems didn't arise again; […] insist that questions were answered and not just ignored.’
‘… ask for support to ensure that the highlighted problems are corrected to safeguard others.’
…conduct a thorough investigation into my concerns so that lessons could be learned.’
Results Private sector ombudsman – seeking individual redress
‘…force [company] to make the payments owed promptly, with a small compensation amount’
‘…act on my [the consumer's] behalf , hopefully with some 'teeth' or power behind them, to force the [company] to finally do what ANY self-respecting company trading within the UK should do, i.e. Treat its customers with SOME level of service & respect.’
FOUR NORMATIVE ROLES
• … to help me understand what it’s all about.
INTERPRETER
• ... to hand over my problem. ADVOCATE
• … to share the responsibility. ALLY
• … they have the right tools to help me. INSTRUMENT
A few comparative stats Demographics
Important factors in the decision to complain
Impression of staff
Satsifaction levels
Expectations of case handling
Outcome
Lawfulness
Fairness
Overall satisfaction
Mean age by country
Gender distribution by country
I have spent much time and effort to try and sort out my problem before contacting an ombudsman
Germany / France / UK:
Between 78 -97%
Importance in decision to complain – excluding FOS
Impression of staff (excluding FOS, UK only)
Satisfaction with ombudsmen in the sample
Satisfaction with how ombuds dealt with your case, including FOS
Satisfaction with ombuds excluding FOS
Satisfaction with ombuds – public/private UK only
Was the way your case was handled what you expected?
Was the way your case was handled what you expected?
Your case was handled the way you expected, UK only private / public
Was the outcome in your favour?
Outcome in your favour?
Outcome in your favour? Including FOS, UK only
Were you willing to accept the outcome?
Willing to accept the outcome
Willing to accept outcome, including FOS UK only
If you are not willing to accept the outcome what will you do next?
Unwilling to accept outcome, what next?
Unwilling to accept including FOS
Fairness?
How fair are the procedures?
Overall satisfaction – including FOS
The energy ombudsman sample, as example
An example from the studies energy data
Germany France
Was the outcome in your favour?
67,4% 50,9%
How fair are the procedures?
82 % 90,7%
Does the ombudsman act according to the law?
83,4% 84,9%
Confidence in the ombudsman?
78,3% 71,3%
Regressions …
… perception of whether the process was fair was significantly correlated with overall satisfaction (r=0.824, p < 0.001)
projects comparative findings
The data shows that citizens’ expectations of the ombudsmen go beyond their responsibilities.
Cultural specific element to disputing behavior and expectations
Expectations change, narratives change throughout the complaint journey.
It’s about managing expectations from the outset & reinforcing them.
Staff procedural justice seems very important in this context.
Factors influencing peoples’ perception of fairness and satisfaction levels = decision-acceptance (leading to increase in trust): First contact with staff
Duration of case
Quality of contact throughout the procedure
Continued communication and updates
procedural justice /fairness
Outcome - acceptance
What next?
Project outputs …
Online critics of ombudsmen (online activism)
LGO / OS project on vulnerable users
Thank you. https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/trusting-middle-man-impact-and-legitimacy-ombudsmen-europe
N.creutzfeldt@westminster.ac.uk