Money News

Bank complaints set to reach record level

Friday, 16 January 2009

Writes Hazel Cottrell
hazel.cottrell@consumerchoices.co.uk

Financial experts predict a record number of complaints in the next year as the credit crisis puts increasing pressure on customers.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk), an independent body which settles disputes between customers and financial institutions, is preparing to deal with an extra 50,000 cases in the next financial year (2009-10).

This will be an increase of 44%, and will take the number of complaints from unhappy consumers to a record 165,000.

This substantial increase in cases takes account of initial forecasts from the financial services industry and reflects the anticipated impact of the worsening economic climate.

Disputes relating to mortgages are forecast to increase by 78% to 16,000 cases, while complaints about current accounts are expected to rise by 38% to 18,000 cases. The Ombudsman also expects to see a 57% increase in disputes over motor insurance.

The Ombudsman will take on an additional 300 adjudicators to deal with these cases.

Chris Eagle, commercial manager at CreditChoices.co.uk said: “As consumers, we have all been keeping a closer eye on our finances recently, which means we are more likely to notice if something doesn’t look right.

“Taking your dispute to the Financial Ombudsman Service should be a last resort, but if you can’t sort a problem out with your bank or building society, you can call the Ombudsman’s consumer helpline on 0845 080 1800 or 020 7964 0500.”