Banking and credit behind majority of complaints made to financial ombudsman

Some 44,200 gripes about banking and credit were received in the first six months of 2022.

Banking and credit issues attracted the most complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service in the first half of this year (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Archive)

Banking and credit issues attracted the most complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in the first half of this year.

Some 44,200 complaints about banking and credit were received in the first six months of 2022, which was slightly down on 46,220 complaints in the last half of 2021.

Within the most recent total, current accounts were behind the most gripes, followed by credit cards.

Just over a third (37%) of banking and credit complaints were upheld in consumers’ favour in the first half of this year, which was down compared with 44% of these complaints being upheld in the last six months of 2021.

People can take their complaint to the FOS if they cannot reach an agreement with their financial firm.

Overall, the service said it received 72,978 complaints in the first half of this year.

The figures also show an increase in complaints related to pensions, insurance and investments compared with the previous half-year, while complaints about mortgages edged down.

Here is a breakdown of some of the new complaint totals received by the FOS in the first half of this year, with the percentage of complaints upheld in consumers’ favour in brackets, followed by the same figures for the second half of 2021: 

Banking and credit, 44,200 (37%), 46,220 (44%)

General insurance and protection, 17,530 (28%), 14,956 (30%)

PPI (payment protection insurance) 747 (24%), 1,988 (21%)

Mortgages and home finance, 3,658 (27%), 4,189 (24%)

Decumulation, life and pensions, 4,193 (26%), 3,552 (30%)

Investments, 2,427 (29%), 2,258 (25%).