‘Ghost brokers’ haunting the insurance market
29 October 2024
This Halloween beware of ‘ghost broker’ deals that are too good to be true or risk being scammed by fraudsters.
New figures show that current accounts, credit cards, car/motorcycle insurance, hire purchase (motor) and buildings insurance were the top five most complained about products in the 2022/23 financial year.
The Financial Ombudsman Service has today published its annual complaints data for the 2022/23 financial year (1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023) along with insight into the common problems raised by consumers.
In the last financial year, the Financial Ombudsman received 165,149 complaints compared to 164,560 complaints in 2021/22. It upheld 35% of the complaints it resolved, compared to 34% in the previous financial year.
Below are the top five most complained about products, with the uphold rate in brackets.
2022/23 | 2021/22 | |
---|---|---|
Current accounts | 26,039 (40%) | 24,335 (51%) |
Credit cards | 14,504 (34%) | 14,584 (37%) |
Car/motorcycle insurance | 11,851 (30%) | 9,310 (28%) |
Hire purchase (motor) | 11,446 (38%) | 6,128 (45%) |
Buildings insurance | 6,497 (33%) | 5,101 (33%) |
Abby Thomas, Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman of the Financial Ombudsman Service, said:
Over the past year, the Financial Ombudsman Service continued to help hundreds of thousands of customers who had problems with financial businesses on issues across banking, lending, insurance and investments.
If consumers have problems with their financial provider, they can come to our service with confidence that we’ll resolve their complaint fairly and impartially.
Analysis of the figures published today highlights the following trends:
Overall, in the main financial product areas, we received:
All the data referenced in the press release excludes complaints data against claims management companies.
The Financial Ombudsman Service was set up by Parliament to resolve individual complaints between financial businesses and their customers on a fair and reasonable basis, as an alternative to the courts. It can look into problems involving most types of money matters. It is committed to sharing insight and experience to encourage fairness and confidence in financial services.
29 October 2024
This Halloween beware of ‘ghost broker’ deals that are too good to be true or risk being scammed by fraudsters.
24 October 2024
The number of financial complaints we received in the first half of 2024 rose by over 40%.
23 October 2024
Not understanding the rules around ‘Section 75’ claims could affect consumers’ chances of getting their money back.