Ombudsman service publishes annual review of personal finance disputes.

The Financial Ombudsman Service, the independent organisation that settles disputes between consumers and financial companies , has today published its annual review covering the 2009/10 financial year. The review shows that during the year, the ombudsman:
• Resolved a record 166,321 disputes – a 46% annual increase –resulting in compensation for consumers in 50% of cases.
• Handled 925,095 consumer enquiries – over 3,500 each working day.
• Saw the number of insurance disputes increase by 38% (largely due to the rise in complaints about payment protection insurance), and complaints about banking and credit rise by 30% – but investment complaints stayed at the same level, motor insurance disputes decreased by 13%, and pension complaints fell by 27%.
Statistics from the ombudsman’s annual review show:
• Payment protection insurance (PPI) accounting for three out of every ten new cases referred to the ombudsman service – a 58% increase on the previous year, following a three-fold increase in the year before that.
• Complaints about unsecured loans and financial hardship rising – but complaints about credit cards and mortgages levelling off.
• Complaints about consumer credit (including “point of sale” loans, catalogue shopping and credit broking) more than doubling.
• The proportion of complaints referred to the ombudsman service by claims-management companies on behalf of consumers continuing to increase – from 26% to 28% of all cases. Two-thirds of cases referred by claims management companies to the ombudsman service related to payment protection insurance.
• The ombudsman resolving 38% of all disputes within three months and 67% of cases within six months.
• Half of the total number of disputes referred to the ombudsman service involving four of the UK's largest financial services groups – while 2,259 businesses had one complaint each.
 

(Source: FOS press release).