The Financial Ombudsman Service has published its annual complaints data, revealing the top five most complained about financial products in the UK.
According to the ombudsman’s report, it received a total of 165,149 complaints in the April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023 financial year. The corresponding number in the previous 12-month span was 164,560. Of the resolved complaints in 2022/23, 35% were upheld by the ombudsman.
Broken down, 26,039 of the complaints involved current accounts; 14,504 were for credit cards; 11,851, car/motorcycle insurance; 11,446, hire purchase (motor); and 6,497, buildings insurance. Credit cards posted a decrease compared to the 2021/22 figure, while all four saw higher sums.
The ombudsman noted that the car/motorcycle insurance complaints were largely driven by payout delays. For buildings insurance, there was an increase in disputes about declined claims, delays, and claims values.
Including all types of cover, there were 39,730 complaints about insurance – ranking second next to banking and payments, which had 61,995 complaints. Third was consumer credit, with 39,607; mortgages, 8,421; investments, 7,953; and pensions, 6,043.
“Over the past year, the Financial Ombudsman Service continued to help hundreds of thousands of customers who had problems with financial businesses on issues across banking, lending, insurance, and investments,” Financial Ombudsman Service chief executive and chief ombudsman Abby Thomas said.
“If consumers have problems with their financial provider, they can come to our service with confidence that we’ll resolve their complaint fairly and impartially.”
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