Financial Services complaints jump 17%

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) saw a 17% year-on-year increase in the number of complaints it received in Quarter 4 (Q4).

FOS recorded 41,303 complaints between October and December, up from 35,342 during the same period in 2021. On a quarterly basis, there were 2,833 more complaints in Q4 than in the July to September period.

Q4 saw 6,082 complaints about current accounts and 3,216 about credit cards, with motor hire purchase (2,987 complaints), vehicle insurance (2,769) and running account credit (2,493) making up the top five most complained about products. The FOS data shows that complaints had an uphold rate of 35% in the fourth quarter.

Between October and December 2022, FOS received 68,342 new enquiries and 41,303 new complaints about financial products. On average 35% upheld complaints resolved in this quarter. The most complained-about product were:

1. 6,082 complaints about current accounts, compared to 5,522 complaints in Q3 2021/22
2. 3,216 complaints about credit cards, compared to 3,263  complaints in Q3 2021/22
3. 2,987 complaints about hire purchase (motor), compared to 1,321 in Q3 2021/22
4. 2,769 complaints about car or motorcycle insurance, compared to 2,178 in Q3 2021/22
5. 2,493 complaints about running account credit, compared to 233 in Q3 2021/22