Financial ombudsman sees steadier complaint levels after ‘extraordinary demand’

Complaints to the financial ombudsman have reduced in recent months, following a period of “extraordinary demand”, according to the service.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) said it received 47,300 complaints between October and December 2025. In the previous quarter, it received 46,300 complaints.

The ombudsman said this “steady state” means complaints are now at around volumes last seen in 2023/24.

Several factors have contributed to the lower volumes of cases, according to the service, which resolves disputes between consumers and financial firms.

Since the introduction of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) complaint handling pause and announced plans for a redress scheme for motor finance commission cases, there has been a fall in those types of complaints reaching the ombudsman, the service said.

The ombudsman received around 400 motor finance commission complaints between October and December 2025, compared with 14,400 in the same period a year earlier.

The service has also introduced charges for professional representatives. It said some, in the past, have brought high numbers of poorly evidenced complaints to the service.

It added that, in a sign that professional representatives are now bringing better evidenced complaints, it is seeing fewer withdrawn and abandoned cases.

For the 2024/25 financial year, more than a third of complaints from professional representatives were withdrawn and/or abandoned. So far this financial year (April to December 2025), the proportion is just under a fifth.

James Dipple-Johnstone, interim chief ombudsman at the FOS, said: “Following a period of extraordinary demand, our case volumes are returning to a steady state as measures we have implemented ensure the complaints that come to us are better evidenced and ready to be investigated.

“The changes we have already introduced – and those we plan to make in the future – will allow us to focus on getting back to our core purpose for customers as a quick, informal and high-quality dispute resolution system.”