Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL) has seen a 17% increase in complaints and a 36% increase in disputes (cases the service formally investigates) in the six months to December 2023.
“We are seeing the increasing financial pressure on individuals and families, due to the higher cost of living and interest rates, translating to a continuing increase in complaints,” says Financial Ombudsman, Susan Taylor.
“Following on from last year’s upward trend, our latest statistics are showing no let-up in the number of complaints.”
Complaints about (non-bank) lenders make up about 54% of the disputes FSCL investigated, up around 14% on the same period in 2022.
Taylor says the higher increase in disputes may also, in part, be because people are less willing to settle a grievance or ‘chalk it up to experience’ and want to take it further.
There was also an increase in complaints about financial advisers (mortgage brokers, sharebrokers, insurance brokers), “…although overall adviser complaint numbers are low”.
The service has also seen a 50% increase in complaints about transactional service providers which are forex dealers, money transfer agencies and trading platforms.