Unaffordable lending complaints halve year on year

The Financial Ombudsman Service processed 68,000 new complaints between April and June 2025, down from 74,600 in the same period a year earlier, the service said in its quarterly complaints data published on 7 August 2025¹. Of the cases it resolved across all financial products in the quarter, it upheld 31% in favour of the consumer¹.

Complaints about lending that people felt was irresponsible or unaffordable fell to 10,000 in the first three months of the financial year, compared with 21,600 at the same time last year¹. The service said these complaints "have dropped by half"¹. Fraud and scams complaints also fell, to 6,800 from 8,800 in the first quarter of 2024/25, with around half of the 6,800 (3,400) about authorised push payment scams, where people are tricked into sending money to a scammer¹.

Hire purchase (motor) was the most complained about product, at 24,300 cases, followed by current accounts at 7,800 and credit cards at 6,600¹. Conditional sale (motor) drew 3,300 complaints and car and motorcycle insurance 2,800¹. Most hire purchase (motor) complaints related to motor finance commission: across all products, the service processed 21,500 new complaints about motor finance commission, down from 36,000 in the last three months of 2024/25¹.

Cases brought by professional representatives fell to 30,800 from 36,600 a year earlier¹. The service said that before charging it saw a high proportion of withdrawn and abandoned cases brought by representatives, and that it anticipates fewer cases in the next few months as representatives bring better-evidenced complaints¹.

Source: Financial Ombudsman Service, Q1 2025/26¹. Figures rounded to the nearest 100.

Why it matters for households

The figures cover complaints the service received between April and June 2025, not the outcome of every case. Anyone who has already complained to a firm and is unhappy with its final response can generally take the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which decides cases on what is fair and reasonable. The 31% uphold rate means that of the cases resolved in the quarter, roughly a third were decided in the consumer's favour¹.

The fall in unaffordable lending complaints to 10,000 is a change in the number of new cases, not a statement about lending standards. For anyone with an existing complaint about an unaffordable loan, the quarterly totals do not change how an individual case is assessed. The same applies to the 6,800 fraud and scams complaints, of which 3,400 concerned authorised push payment scams¹.

The service's own data shows the volume of cases it handles, and the time limits for bringing a complaint are unchanged by the quarterly figures. Complaints about a bank or building society remain the second largest category by product, at 7,800 for current accounts¹.

What happens next

The service said it anticipates fewer cases in the next few months as professional representatives bring better-evidenced complaints, following the introduction of charges for representatives bringing more than ten complaints a year¹. It also referred to a joint consultation with the Financial Conduct Authority on further measures to modernise its service¹. The next quarterly complaints data, covering July to September 2025, has not been published¹.