Over 50% of complaints against financial firms upheld

28th May 2009

Over half of businesses and individuals that complained against financial service firms in the last year were awarded compensation by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

The FOS found in favour of consumers a record 57% of the time, with this percentage even higher in some areas. In cases involving payment protection insurance the compensation rate was 89% and the consumer was sided with in 75% of credit card disputes.

The number of complaints that the FOS dealt with increased 14% from last year's figure to a record number of 114,000.

"As businesses tighten their belts - and the credit crunch leads to increased financial difficulty for many consumers - we are gearing up to deal with further volatility in complaint volumes," said Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of the Ombudsman service.
 

Source: Newbusiness.co.uk