On 7 August 2025, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) issued a press release on the recent decline in case levels, with complaints at their lowest level in over a year.
Key findings set out in the press release in relation to complaints data from the first quarter of this financial year include:
- 68,000 complaints were processed, compared to 74,600 cases for Q1 of 2024. Notably, there has been a decline in complaints about everyday financial products, such as current accounts, credit cards and motor insurance.
- The decline has been particularly significant across certain issues, including irresponsible and unaffordable lending, which has halved compared to the previous year.
- Further, there has also been a drop in cases in relation to motor finance commission, the most complained about issue, from 36,000 to 21,500 cases in the same period as last year.
- There has also been a significant drop in fraud and scam complaints, with 6,800 complaints being submitted in Q1, compared to 8,800 in Q1 of 2024.
- Charges were introduced for professional representatives who bring in more than 10 complaints per year on 1 April 2025, and there has been a drop in cases brought by those representatives from 36,600 to 30,800 in the same period as last year. However, it is anticipated to result in even fewer complaints in the next quarter, as professionals should begin to submit better-evidenced complaints and consider their merits more diligently.
Finally, it was highlighted that FOS is consulting on modernising the redress system alongside the Financial Conduct Authority, and HM Treasury has issued a related consultation on legislative changes. The consultations propose changes to the way FOS processes complaints to ensure they are well-evidenced prior to an investigation, as well as guidelines to help industry assess and trigger the need to resolve a situation with wider implications that could spike complaints. Both consultations close on 8 October 2025.