Jump in FOS complaints to 141k is ‘an unnerving trend’

7th May 2025

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A sharp rise in complaints being made to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has been described as an ‘unnerving trend’ that should concern the industry.

The number of complaints logged between July and December 2024 was revealed to be 49% higher than in the same period in 2023 at 141,846.

The rise is an acceleration of a longstanding trend, with complaint numbers increasing for the past decade.

While the numbers and trend are clear, the reasons are less so, with some mixture of higher expectations from consumers and poor service from providers likely to be responsible.

The rise comes despite the introduction of the FCA’s Consumer Duty, which is aimed at improving service levels delivered by firms in the sector.

Dom House, lead consultant at Simplify Consulting, said: “The upward trajectory of complaints data is now becoming an unnerving trend.

“However, those that can build an effective complaints strategy, will not only be delivering better outcomes for clients and be meeting Consumer Duty requirements, they might well reduce the risk of losing a large proportion of their clients.

“Our own research into this area found that 76% of complainants said it had impacted their loyalty to their provider, with 18% having moved provider as a result of their complaint.

House noted that Consumer Duty has made complaints “more visible to senior leadership in firms”.

“This is a positive, and increasingly we are seeing firms not just reviewing the complaints numbers periodically, but taking a closer look at how the complaints function interacts with the rest of the business.

“As new technology becomes mainstream, consumer expectations have been raised and firms now need to get a grip by addressing the imbalance between prevention and cure,” he continued.

“By focusing on the root cause of complaints more firms might just be able to prevent issues being raised on the first place.”