Deaf News: Deaf people can now use sign language to get advice from the Financial Ombudsman

Nine out of ten people say they have no complaints about their bank, insurer or finance firm.  In fact,  most financial transactions take place without any problems. But sometimes things do go wrong. And when they do it is up to the business to try and sort it out.

For the Deaf community this can be problematic. They are often trying to deal with bureaucracy in their second language. British Sign Language is the first language of around 130,000 Deaf people, with one in 6 people experiencing some hearing loss. Signed languages are visual languages with their own syntax and grammar.

The majority of businesses and their websites are not accessible in sign language and they are unlikely to help arrange and pay for a sign language interpreter to deal with a complaint.

However, this is where the Financial Ombudsman can help. One click on their website will bring a fully qualified interpreter, provided by Sign Solutions (a supporter of this site) into vision.

The interpreter will then connect to the free call centre. The Financial Ombudsman has the authority from Parliament to sort out individual complaints, and they will give advice or make decisions based on the facts they see.

The access provided by the Financial Ombudsman does not stop there. They will translate any correspondence into sign language on DVD and /or email link and discuss the matter with Deaf people using an interpreter.

If you want to speak to the Financial Ombudsman to make a complaint or for advice in sign language connect using this link: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/help/sign-language.html