When we are conducting our adjudication, we may need to ask the parties to give us evidence verbally. This is called an oral hearing. We may do this if there is a dispute about a fact between the consumer making the complaint, and their provider, that we are finding difficult to resolve without hearing that evidence orally. We do not need an oral hearing for every complaint. The Ombudsman will decide if oral evidence is needed. If we have a hearing and if a person gives us their oral evidence, that person will then be cross-examined about what they have said.

For more information, see our Oral Hearing Guidelines