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FOS publishes latest complaints data

FOS has published its latest quarterly data on complaints in relation to financial products. The data covers the period of April to June 2022, and can be accessed in full as a spreadsheet.

Over the period, the average uphold rate was 34%.

Current accounts were the most complained-about financial product, in connection with complaints about ‘authorised’ scams. FOS found that although the number of authorised scam complaints has been decreasing, investment scams had the steepest increase within this category. There were approximately 1,900 complaints about authorised scams against consumers’ banks. This is a decrease of just over 20% from Quarter 1, which saw approximately 2,380 complaints. More than 50% of the reported investment scams involved cryptocurrencies. FOS upheld around 60% of investment fraud complaints in consumers’ favour.

The other most common complaints related to: car or motorcycle insurance; hire purchase (motor); and buildings insurance.

The highest uphold rates during this time were for complaints relating to unregulated collective investment schemes (UCIS) and other non-mainstream investments: loans and SIPPs had the highest uphold rates at 74% each. FOS reported consumer feedback that SIPP providers were failing to carry out due diligence on investments or businesses giving advice about investments.

Nicola Radford