Quarterly complaints data: Q2 2023/24

Every three months, we share quarterly data and information on the complaints we see about financial products and services. This includes the number of enquiries and new complaints we received, as well as the proportion of complaints we resolved in favour of consumers – or ‘upheld’.

For information on the complaints we received about claims management companies (CMCs), please see our CMC quarterly data.

• Overall, we received 76,827 enquiries and 46,716 new complaints about financial products and services.

• This is an increase on the number of complaints received in the same quarter of last year, up from 38,470 new complaints in Q2 2022/23.
• We upheld 37% of the cases we resolved in favour of the consumer, up from 34% in the same period last year.
• Complaints relating to motor vehicles made up 25% of all cases this quarter, up from 18% in the same period last year (Q2 2022/23).

• Three products linked to financing or insuring motor vehicles feature in the top five most complained about products this quarter – hire purchase (motor), car/motorcycle insurance and conditional sale (motor).

The top five most complained about products and services were:

1. Current accounts – 7,880
2. Hire purchase (motor) – 4,622
3. Credit cards – 4,505
4. Car/motorcycle insurance – 4,036
5. Conditional sale (motor) – 1,569

Financial complaints relating to motor vehicles accounted for a quarter of all the cases we received in the second quarter of this financial year.

We received 11,689 complaints about the financing and insuring of people’s cars, motorcycles and caravans. In the same period the year before, there were 6,744 complaints about issues related to motor vehicles.

Complaints about car finance agreements and traditional car/motorcycle insurance made up 90% of complaints relating to vehicle ownership. We also saw complaints about insurance for roadside assistance, caravans and commercial vehicles, as well as motor warranties.

Car finance

We saw an increase in complaints about hire purchase (motor) and conditional sale (motor).

Download the data: Hire purchase (motor) and Conditional sale (motor) complaints (XLSX 10KB)

The data shows that many car finance agreement complaints are being submitted by professional representatives. Altogether they account for more than 90% of cases related to unaffordable or irresponsible lending, and 70% of complaints about fees, charges and commission.

The uphold rate for these motor finance complaints brought by professional representatives was particularly low at just 8%, compared to a 42% uphold rate when cases in the same category were brought directly by consumers.

This rate is also much lower than the 35% uphold rate for general complaints brought by professional representatives across all categories during the same time period.

Car/motorcycle insurance

On the insurance side, there were 4,036 complaints about car/motorcycle insurance.

Download the data: Car/motorcycle insurance complaints (XLSX 10KB)

Complaints about car/motorcycle insurance were due to a variety of issues arising from claims, including disputes over vehicle valuations, customer service issues and delays in payouts.

Current accounts

Current accounts continued to be the most complained about product overall with 7,880 new complaints – increasing by a third compared to Q2 2022/23, from 5,945 new complaints.

Credit Cards

Credit Cards were the third most complained about product with 4,505 complaints this quarter compared to 3,386 cases in the second quarter of 2022/23.