Complaints data: how firms' complaint figures are published

Every year UK financial firms handle millions of complaints from customers, and two separate sets of numbers are published about them. One set comes from the firms themselves: businesses regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority report the complaints they receive, and the FCA publishes the totals. In the second half of 2018 alone, firms reported 3.91 million complaints, a 5% decrease (220,972 fewer) on the 4.13 million received in the first half of that year, and firms reporting 500 or more complaints accounted for almost 98% of all complaints reported¹.

The other set comes from the Financial Ombudsman, the free service that steps in when a firm and a customer cannot agree. The ombudsman publishes complaints data on financial products and services every quarter, and updates on business complaints data every six months². The FCA's own rulebook, BCOBS, states that the Financial Ombudsman Service publishes its complaints data every six months³. The data includes the number of enquiries and new complaints received, the most complained-about products and services, trends for the quarter, and the proportion of complaints resolved in favour of customers⁴.

What complaints data shows and where it comes from

The two datasets measure different things, and that difference matters when reading them. The FCA's aggregate data counts every complaint a firm logs internally, from a first phone call about a disputed card payment to a formal written complaint. It includes all the complaints that firms report to the FCA, except complaints relating to consumer credit related activities in the aggregate data¹. The ombudsman's data counts only the complaints consumers actually referred to it after the firm's own process had run its course, so the numbers are far smaller but each one represents a dispute a firm did not resolve to the customer's satisfaction.

The firm-reported data is dominated by a small number of very large businesses. In H2 2018, firms reporting 500 or more complaints accounted for almost 98% of all complaints reported¹. That means the aggregate figures largely reflect the experiences customers have with the biggest banks, insurers and lenders, and a single mass issue at one large firm can move the national total. Payment protection insurance was the clearest example: PPI continued to be the most complained-about product in H2 2018, making up 40% of all complaints, and excluding PPI, total complaints decreased from 2.41 million to 2.33 million over 2018¹.

The ombudsman's data is published on a rolling schedule. Product and service data appears every quarter, with updates on business complaints data every six months², an arrangement reflected in the FCA Handbook, which states that the Financial Ombudsman Service publishes its complaints data every six months³. Each release includes the number of enquiries and new complaints received, the most complained-about products and services, trends for the quarter, and the proportion of complaints resolved in favour of customers⁴. Annual data about complaints about claims management companies is published separately⁹.

For a consumer, the practical use of all this is context. The figures show which products generate the most disputes, how the ombudsman tends to decide them, and roughly how likely a complaint about a given product is to be upheld. They cannot tell you whether your own complaint will succeed, because each case turns on its own facts.

Complaint figures by product: current accounts, insurance and credit

Current accounts are consistently among the most complained-about products at the ombudsman. In Q3 2025/26 the service received 8,500 new complaints about current accounts, the most complained-about product¹⁰. The quarterly figure has moved around: 8,900 new complaints about current accounts were received between April and June 2026¹¹, against 7,803 in the full Q1 2025/26 dataset². Over the whole of 2025/26 there were 32,900 complaints about current accounts¹². The longer history shows the same pattern: in 2020/21 the most complained-about product was current accounts, with 23,678 new complaints¹³, and back in 2009/10 current accounts accounted for 35% of complaints by product¹⁴.

Banking and payment complaints cover a wide range of everyday services: current accounts, savings accounts, direct debits, money transfers, electronic payment platforms, cheques and banker's drafts, with common issues including account closures, disputed transactions, IT failures and problems with switching services¹⁵.

Consumer credit complaints have grown sharply. In 2022/23 the ombudsman received 39,607 complaints about consumer credit products, of which 4,536 were about point-of-sale finance¹⁶. In 2023/24 the consumer credit sector generated 51,956 new complaints¹⁷, and in 2024/25 the total reached 117,585 new complaints⁹. Credit cards alone drew 6,591 complaints in the Q1 2025/26 dataset².

Insurance also features prominently, and single events can move the numbers. Car and motorcycle insurance complaints rose to 4,100 in Q1 2026/27, up from 2,800 in the same period in 2025¹¹. Complaint volumes of this kind are worth reading alongside the ombudsman's uphold rates, which each release reports as the proportion of complaints resolved in favour of customers⁴. A product with many complaints and a low uphold rate tells a different story from one where most complaints succeed.

Complain to the firm first: 8 weeks for a final response

The ombudsman cannot be the first stop. Before bringing a complaint, you must make a formal complaint to the company involved, and if it does not send a final response letter within eight weeks, or you are unhappy with its response, you can bring the complaint to the ombudsman¹⁸. For most complaints a business has up to 8 weeks to consider the complaint⁶. The same eight week limit applies across products: firms regulated by the FCA must make a final decision on a complaint within eight weeks¹⁹, and credit unions, for example, have eight weeks to investigate and give a final response²⁰.

The timing after the firm's response matters as much as the timing before it. You need to make a complaint to the ombudsman within 6 months of the date on your final response⁶. If you let that window pass, the ombudsman may not be able to look at your case even if the complaint itself was valid.

Taking a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman is free

The ombudsman is free to consumers. Bringing a complaint is straightforward and will not cost you anything⁸, a point the service states plainly: it is free for consumers²². The same applies whatever the product, from credit cards to pensions: complaints about a credit union, for instance, can be taken to the free Financial Ombudsman Service if you are unhappy with the final response or the timeframe has passed²⁰.

You also do not need to pay anyone to represent you, for example a lawyer or a claims management company⁶. Claims management companies take on complaints in bulk and typically charge a fee or a share of any redress, so a successful complaint through one returns less to you than the same complaint made directly. The ombudsman's complaint form is designed for consumers to complete themselves, and the service publishes guidelines if you are considering using AI to help complete it: avoid entering personal information you would not want shared, such as health or banking information, only use AI to help organise information or put it clearly, and check the resulting text carefully⁶.

How the ombudsman decides a complaint

The ombudsman does not decide complaints like a court applying only the letter of the law. Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, it must determine complaints "by reference to what is, in the opinion of the ombudsman, fair and reasonable in all the circumstances of the case"²³. In practice it takes account of relevant law and regulations, the regulator's rules, guidance and standards, industry codes of practice and, where appropriate, good industry practice²⁴.

The process is evidence-based and two-sided. The ombudsman considers the facts and evidence from both the business and the customer, then sets out its findings explaining the decision and what needs to be done to put things right²⁵. When it has finished investigating, it tells the consumer whether it thinks the business treated them fairly or not, and explains how it reached that decision²⁶. If the business treated you unfairly, the ombudsman tells it to put you back where you would have been if the mistake had not been made, and possibly to make an award for distress and inconvenience¹⁵.

The fair-and-reasonable test also underpins newer schemes. Under the FCA's motor finance compensation scheme, people who disagree with their firm's decision can ask the Financial Ombudsman to assess whether the scheme rules have been followed²⁷. The same review noted that the FCA will determine limited exceptions to complaint time limits, focused on particular features of products expected to be longer-term products such as pensions²³.

Compensation limit: up to £430,000 for recent complaints

The ombudsman can tell a business to pay compensation, but the amount it can require is capped, and the cap depends on when the complaint was referred and when the events happened. For complaints referred on or after 1 April 2024 about acts or omissions by firms on or after 1 April 2019, the limit is £430,000⁷. Earlier referrals carry lower limits: £415,000 for complaints referred between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, £375,000 for those referred between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023, £355,000 for referrals between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2022, and £350,000 for referrals between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020, in each case about acts or omissions on or after 1 April 2019. For complaints referred between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 about acts or omissions before 1 April 2019, the limit was £170,000⁷. The much older limit was £150,000 (£100,000 for complaints received before 1 January 2012)²⁸.

Above the limit, the ombudsman can recommend the business pays more if it thinks it fair, but the business does not have to accept that recommendation⁷. For most consumers with everyday complaints about current accounts, cards or insurance, the cap is not the constraint; it matters mainly in large investment and pension disputes.

The cap is separate from the FSCS limits that apply when a firm has failed. The FSCS applies an £85,000 compensation limit for pension advice claims, including defined benefit pension transfer advice²⁹, and for a SIPP operator that failed between 3 July 2015 and 31 March 2019 the limit was up to £50,000 per eligible person, per firm²⁸. The ombudsman deals with live firms; the FSCS deals with failed ones.

Interest on awards: how it is calculated

When the ombudsman upholds a complaint, the award often includes interest for the period the consumer was out of pocket, and the method changed recently. For complaints referred before 1 January 2026, the ombudsman typically asked financial businesses to use a rate of interest of 8% simple a year. From 1 January 2026, it typically asks businesses to calculate this using a time-weighted average of the Bank of England base rate plus one percentage point⁷. The interest rate for late payment, where a business misses the deadline for paying a final decision, is usually 8% simple a year⁷.

The switch matters because the two methods can produce different amounts. A fixed 8% simple a year is predictable and does not depend on what the Bank of England does to base rate, while a time-weighted average of base rate plus one percentage point moves with the rate environment over the period the calculation covers. Which applies depends on when the complaint was referred, not when the events happened or when the decision is issued.

Where the ombudsman cannot help

The ombudsman's coverage follows the FCA's perimeter. If the firm you want to complain about is not on the FCA Register, the ombudsman generally cannot help, and pension complaints about such firms should be referred to the Pensions Ombudsman instead³⁰. Before dealing with any firm, you can use the FCA's Firm Checker to confirm it is authorised, which also helps you avoid scams¹⁵.

The ombudsman is also not the right route for complaints about claims management companies themselves: those go to the FCA, which handles complaints about the conduct of a claims company, asks you to contact the company first so it has a chance to put things right, and to keep a record of your complaint. The FCA cannot pay compensation or order a claims management company to compensate you, even if you have received poor service³¹.

Where a firm has failed rather than merely refused to pay, the ombudsman is not the route at all; the FSCS handles claims against failed firms, and the two schemes' roles are compared on our page on FSCS or Financial Ombudsman.

Searching published ombudsman decisions

The ombudsman's final decisions are published in an online database, anonymised to protect complainants' identities, and the database holds all the final decisions published since 1 April 2013³².

The database is a practical tool for anyone preparing a complaint. The FOS has a database of earlier cases and decisions which can be used to get an insight into its approach¹⁹. Reading decisions about the same product and issue shows what evidence the ombudsman asked for, which rules and standards it applied, and how it weighed fairness in comparable circumstances. Decisions are anonymised, so they name neither the complainant nor, in the detail, the individual people at the firm, but they do show the substance of the dispute and the reasoning.

Two limits are worth bearing in mind. Published decisions are final decisions, not the informal resolutions many complaints receive earlier in the process, so they skew toward harder cases. And each decision turns on its own facts: a favourable decision in a similar case is context, not a promise, as the ombudsman itself makes clear when it explains how it reaches decisions³².