The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has published its Annual Review 2018/2019. The Annual Review highlights that FOS has:
- received more than 388,000 complaints over the past 12 months, which is up 14% on 2017/2018. There has been a nearly 90% rise in complaints about consumer credit products and services, which represents one in every three new cases FOS received this year (when PPI is excluded). In many cases, customers have been left to struggle with unsustainable debt;
- raised concerns about potential vulnerability and harm in other areas – for example, warning insurers about penalising customer loyalty, and challenging banks to deliver fairer outcomes for victims of fraud;
- seen the implications of the ongoing shift to online banking – as a major IT failure, as well as several smaller ones, affected millions of people and generated many thousands of complaints; and
- received its two-millionth complaint about PPI.
FOS plans to launch a new, more accessible website in June 2019, as well as an online portal later this year for people bringing complaints.