‘Buy now, pay later’ users will soon be able to bring complaints to the Financial Ombudsman
8 July 2026
From 15 July, consumers can bring eligible complaints to us about BNPL agreements if they can't resolve things with their provider.
Financial Ombudsman received 53,600 cases in the first quarter of 2026/27
- Current accounts were the most complained about product, with fraud and scams accounting for half of the cases in this area.
- Travel and motor insurance case volumes both increased in the first three months of this financial year.
- More consumers are referring their cases directly to the free service, without going through professional representatives.
Case levels at the Financial Ombudsman Service remained stable in the first quarter of 2026/27, newly published data showed today.
The service received 53,600 complaints between April and June 2026, 600 more than the previous quarter (January to March 2026), but significantly fewer than the 68,000 complaints received in the same period last year (April to June 2025), when many cases related to motor finance commission (MFC).
Current accounts were the most complained about product, with 8,900 complaints, largely driven by fraud and scams. By comparison, consumers lodged 8,600 cases in January to March 2026 and 7,800 in April to June 2025.
Looking across other products, complaints also increased in some areas of insurance. Car and motorcycle insurance complaints rose to 4,100, up from 2,800 in the same period in 2025, and up on the 4,000 from January to March 2026, with consumers raising concerns about claim values, policy cancellations and claim delays.
Travel insurance complaints also rose by 30% (300) year-on-year to 1,300 cases, following earlier travel disruption linked to the conflict in the Middle East. Declined claims remained the most common issue. In January to March 2026, people submitted 1,200 complaints about this product.
James Dipple-Johnstone, Interim Chief Ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service, said:
Our latest data highlights the wide range of issues people are bringing to us – from everyday banking to fraud and scams, and insurance complaints.
As financial services continue to evolve, we are delivering the biggest reforms to our service since we were created to ensure we develop alongside them.
As our jurisdiction expands to include products such as Buy Now Pay Later, we remain committed to providing an accessible, independent and impartial service that supports consumers and businesses alike
The service is currently undergoing the biggest transformation to its operations since its inception 25 years ago. Working with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the government, the Ombudsman is driving forward an ambitious programme of changes to allow it to better focus on its core purpose as a quick and informal alternative to the courts.
Now, more consumers are bringing complaints directly to the free service themselves, meaning they can keep any redress awarded.
In Q1 2026/27, representatives – including professional representatives, family and friends – accounted for 10% of cases referred to the Financial Ombudsman, down from 45% in Q1 2025/26. Professional representatives, who are charged to refer cases and take a share of any redress, accounted for 1,800 cases, or 3% of the total caseload. This is a continuation of the trend we’ve seen over previous quarters.
The overall uphold rate continues to be affected by the closure of motor finance commission cases. While we are not able to progress many MFC cases until we get clarity on legal challenges, we have been able to progress some cases. This includes where there was no discretion afforded to the broker around the commission payment they received or the interest rate paid by the consumer. It also includes where no or only a small amount of commission was paid, as well as where the consumer didn't pay any interest on the loan.
As these cases have not been upheld, the overall uphold rate was 26% for the quarter. Excluding motor finance commission, the uphold rate across all products was 30%.
The uphold rate is expected to fluctuate over time as the service works through different types of cases.
The Financial Ombudsman is also resolving cases more quickly. In April to June 2026, 51% of cases were closed within three months of an investigation starting, compared with 46% in April to June 2025.
The service has also published its latest half-year individual companies’ data. As a one-off, this covers 1 July 2025 to 31 March 2026 and applies to firms where the Financial Ombudsman received and resolved at least 45 complaints. The change aligns individual companies’ data with other data releases, which cover the financial year. Future half-yearly data will cover April to September and October to March.
This data set shows that we received 146,600 complaints in total during this nine-month period.
Please contact the Financial Ombudsman Service media team for more information.
Notes to editors
About the data
The recent quarterly products data in this release refers to 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026. You can view and download the full data set.
The top five most complained about products in Q1 2026/27:
| Q1 2025/26 | Q4 2025/26 | Q1 2026/27 | |
| Current accounts | 7,800 | 8,600 | 8,900 |
| Credit cards | 6,600 | 6,200 | 5,800 |
| Hire purchase | 24,300 | 5,000 | 5,600 |
| Car or motorcycle insurance | 2,800 | 4,000 | 4,100 |
| Electronic money (e-money) | 1,700 | 2,500 | 2,300 |
The table below shows how representatives’ data has changed by quarter. The Financial Ombudsman cannot accurately split professional and other representatives’ data prior to Q2 2025/26. The percentages show total representatives’ data as a share of total complaints.
| Quarter | Total representatives' data | Of that, professional representatives | Of reps data, non professional representatives | % of total complaints |
| Q1 2026/27 | 5,500 | 1,800 | 3,700 | 10% |
| Q4 2025/26 | 5,000 | 1,500 | 3,500 | 9% |
| Q3 2025/26 | 5,500 | 2,100 | 3,400 | 12% |
| Q2 2025/26 | 9,900 | 4,300 | 5,700 | 21% |
| Q1 2025/26 | 30,800 | 45% |
All data in the press release has been rounded to the nearest 100.
‘Found in favour of the consumer’ or ‘upheld’ means that the case was closed as a change in outcome in favour of the complainant.
About the Financial Ombudsman Service
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 a free 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.
Latest news
Festival refunds are not guaranteed so know your rights, warns the Financial Ombudsman Service
4 June 2026
As festival season gets going, many consumers may not understand their rights to getting their money back if things go wrong.
Financial Ombudsman resolved more than 220,000 cases in the last year
21 May 2026
New complaints coming to the Financial Ombudsman Service have returned to more historical levels, following a previous year of significant increased demand.