Lucy HadrillFOS has published its annual complaints data for April 2021 – March 2022. Highlights include:
- FOS received 165,263 new complaints which is a decrease on the previous year (279,146). Of these, there were 5,369 PPI complaints, 703 complaints about CMCs and 159,191 general casework complaints (ie all product types other than PPI and complaints about CMCs);
- in the main product areas, FOS received 108,065 new complaints about banking and credit, 33,127 about insurance and 16,276 about investments and pensions;
- FOS resolved 218,740 complaints, with an overall uphold rate of 38% (37% of non-PPI complaints were resolved in favour of the consumer);
- current accounts were the most complained about product – FOS received c.25,000 new cases in 2021/22, the majority of which were complaints from victims of fraud and scams, with most relating to “authorised” fraud. FOS upheld around 75% of “authorised” scam complaints in favour of the consumer;
- an increase in scams involving social media and scams relating to fake investments. FOS analysis suggests this increase could be in part driven by people attempting to make additional income when they were on furlough during the Covid-19 pandemic; and
- over 35,000 complaints were about businesses’ customer service.
