The Financial Ombudsman Service will streamline its dispute lodgment process, reduce timeframes for dispute resolution and bring expert decision-makers into the process earlier, as part of an overhaul of its processes.This week, FOS released a consultation paper outlining proposed changes to its terms of reference. The paper is a response to a Cameronralph Navigator review of FOS's operations, punished earlier this year with 33 recommendations.Cameronralph Navigator said the ombudsman did not meet its benchmark for efficiency because of undue delays in dealing with disputes. It said FOS needed to take immediate steps to clear its backlog and start working towards a long-term solution.FOS plans to create a separate class of decision-maker within the organisation, to be known as adjudicators, to manage simple low-value disputes.It is also introducing a streamlined one-step dispute lodgment process.Cameronralph Navigator was particularly critical of FOS's lodgment process. It said: "The primary issue identified by our analysis is the configuration of FOS into a series of 'production line' steps, each focusing on a particular dispute resolution technique. This is designed to progressively filter out the less complex disputes and to resolve as many disputes as possible by co-operative means, reserving the effort of the most experienced and senior staff for the most complex and most contested disputes at the end of production line."The downside of this configuration is multiple hand-offs between FOS staff, queuing of disputes between internal stages, delays in achieving a FOS view on the merits of disputes and some frustration for the parties."FOS is also planning to reduce timeframes for objections to decisions.And it will exclude small business disputes involving credit facilities exceeding A$2 million. It said: "Business that have access to these large credit facilities are often well resourced and in a position to pursue a dispute in more traditional forums."It will also change its approach to dealing with a number of other types of disputes, such as small business insurance disputes, uninsured third party motor vehicle disputes and those involving trust companies.