Our report that the FSCL’s Ombudsman has seen a steep rise in complaints attracted lots of attention among Riskinfo readers this week…

Complaints to dispute resolution service FSCL rose steeply in the year to 30 June 2023.

Overall, complaints rose by 25% on the previous year, up from 1,077 in 2022 to 1,349. Disputes were up by 37% on the previous year.

FSCL formally investigated 53 complaints about financial advisers (45 the previous year), and of the 53, 12 related to risk products.

Financial Ombudsman and FSCL CEO Susan Taylor says that while there was an increase on last year, given her organisation has more than 4,000 members “…the complaint numbers are very small”.

Susan Taylor, Financial Ombudsman and Chief Executive Officer at FSCL.
Susan Taylor, Financial Ombudsman.

“This indicates that, generally, advisers are doing a good job of looking after their clients and providing good advice,” she says.

Complaints about lenders made up the greatest proportion of FSCL investigations.

“Experience shows that when interest rates and the cost-of-living increase, complaints about loans tend to go up,” says Taylor.

FSCL’s 2022/23 annual report is to be published in October.