Financial Ombudsman Service predicts it will receive over 37,000 fraud and scams complaints next year

• We expect fraud and scams to account for 35% of our banking and loan cases* in the next financial year.
• We’re seeking views on our forecasted case volumes for 2025/26 in a consultation that closes at the end of this month.
• At the same time, we are working with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to modernise the redress system.

We’re predicting that more than 37,000 fraud and scams complaints, including cases involving authorised push payment (APP) scams, cryptocurrency fraud and ‘safe account’ scams – underlining the evolving complexity of these cases and the sophistication of fraudsters. This is an increase on the 33,000 fraud and scams cases we forecast to have received by the end of this financial year. 

Other banking issues the service is likely to see include problems with savings accounts, short term lending and mortgages.

Abby Thomas, Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman said: 

It’s concerning to see high levels of fraud and scams cases continue to come to our service. People can feel embarrassed to have fallen victim to a fraud or scam, but these crimes can be complex and incredibly convincing, and nobody should be afraid to come forward.

No matter how difficult a case may be, people can come with confidence to our free, independent service and we’ll investigate their complaint.”

In our recently published consultation on our 2025/26 Plans and Budget, we have projected likely caseload levels of around 240,000 new complaints. Every year we consult a wide range of stakeholders across consumer groups and industry to gain insight on how many and what type of cases we should expect to receive.

The consultation comes at a time when we have launched a joint Call for Input with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) looking at how to modernise the redress framework to ensure it is fit for the future.

While the current system works well for individual complaints about specific issues, sudden and significant increases in complaints can cause firms to struggle to effectively respond, delaying any customer redress that may be due. The Call for Input is seeking views on how to prevent financial issues leading to a spike in complaints and creating uncertainty for firms and their customers.

Abby Thomas added:

We are transforming our service to meet the needs of consumers and businesses. Thanks to our digital transformation and improved performance, caseworkers are now resolving 18% more customer complaints per head than last year, without compromising on quality.

I also want to seize this opportunity to modernise the redress framework and ensure our service remains vital and relevant not only for today, but also continues to underpin confidence in financial services for the next generation of consumers and businesses.”

In recent years, we have delivered a transformation programme, investing in new technologies, opening new team locations and introducing new ways of working. These changes have made the organisation more resilient, building flexibility into our workforce to respond to the changing nature of complaints, and to peaks and troughs in demand.

We’re predicting we will resolve around 270,000 cases next year, made up of both new complaints and older disputes. Budget proposals include plans to increase our resource to ensure that all cases can be progressed and resolved in line with our service standards.

Other proposals outlined in our Plans and Budget Consultation include freezing all case fees and levies for financial firms at their current level. Taking into account inflation, this would represent a saving of £70m to industry compared to pricing in 2023/24.

The consultation on our Plans and Budget is open until 29 January 2025.

The Call for Input runs until 30 January 2025.

*excluding credit cards and motor finance commission.