Complaints to financial Ombudsman hit record high

The amount of complaints received by the Financial Services Ombudsman in Ireland reached record highs last month.

In his bi-annual review, Bill Prasifka said his office received more complaints in March than they had in any other month since the Ombudsman was put in place.

The report prompted Prasfika to call for “much more to be done to restore public confidence to the financial sector”.  

In the six months to the end of December 2010, there was a 40pc increase in the amount of complaints about mortgages, while grievances about investment and insurance products remained at record highs.

The review shows that a total of 3,599 complaints were received between July and December, compared to 3,631 in the first six months of the year.

Bad weather affected households massively in 2010 and unsurprisingly complaints about household insurance policies doubled.

Banks received their fair share of complaints, with about one third of all consumer gripes aimed at them.

Throughout the second six months of the year, compensation of more than €1.3m was awarded to financial institutions’ customers.

“The large increase in complaints in certain areas reflects the immense difficulties facing consumers and the financial industry as a whole,” said Prasifka.

“The fact that over €2.6m was awarded in compensation by the Office in 2010 shows that some financial institutions are still not making efforts to resolve complaints sooner,” he said.