Financial Services complaints fall

Latest data has shown that complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) fell to 46,300 in the quarter ending September 2025, down from 73,700 a year earlier. The decline follows the introduction of charges for professional representatives referring cases.

FOS recorded 305,726 complaints for the year ending 31st March, with this driven by grievances over the motor finance mis-selling scandal. Motor finance cases fell to 2,200 from 9,500 over the year as the Financial Conduct Authority paused complaints handling as it plans an industry-wide redress scheme.

The data set shows that professional representatives accounted for 4,300 cases in the second quarter of this financial year, and a higher proportion of complaints are now coming directly from consumers. In the same period in 2024/25, professional representatives lodged around 37,100 cases.

The rise in mass claims to FOS in recent years is one of the reasons why the body has been working with the Treasury and the FCA to modernise the dispute resolution system – ensuring consumers can continue to access a quick and high-quality alternative to the courts.

Motor finance commission and perceived irresponsible and unaffordable lending were the two areas where complaints from professional representatives previously made up a significant proportion of cases. In the second quarter of this financial year, FOS received 4,500 complaints about irresponsible and unaffordable lending compared to 24,900 cases in July to September 2024. There has also been a fall in motor finance commission cases, receiving around 2,200 complaints compared to 9,500 in the same period in 2024/25. The decrease is largely due to the FCA’s complaints handling pause as well as its plans for a redress scheme.

Current accounts are now back to being the most complained about product. Consumers lodged 7,900 complaints, with fraud and scams and administration/customer service being the most complained about issues. In the same period in 2024/25 consumers submitted 9,200 complaints, as previously reported.

James Dipple-Johnstone, Interim Chief Ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service, said “We are undertaking an ambitious series of improvements to foster confidence in financial services now and in the future.

“Following a period of extraordinary demand, our case volumes are now starting to decrease as the measures we have implemented ensure the complaints which come to us are better-evidenced and ready to be investigated.

“The changes we have already introduced – and those we plan to make in the future – will allow us to focus on getting back to our core purpose for customers as a quick, informal and impartial alternative to the courts for resolving disputes.”