FOS publishes Ombudsman News issue 153
Industry News | 26/08/20
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has published issue 153 of its Ombudsman News, providing its quarterly complaints data for Q1 2020/21, and an insight summary on complaints resulting from COVID-19 and the impact on consumers and SMEs. The FOS received 110,695 consumer enquiries in Q1 2020/21, 12% fewer than Q4 2019/20 and 19% fewer than Q1 2019/20. Referrals to an ombudsman were 25% fewer than in Q4 2019/20, and 38% fewer than Q1 2019/20. The FOS’s insight summary provides a breakdown of the over 3,500 complaints related to COVID-19 that it has received so far in 2020, which indicates that 23% related to travel insurance, 20% to business protection insurance, and 9% to credit cards. It also outlines trends the FOS has seen, including customers in debt of financial difficulty due to COVID-19, its impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), lockdown causing business disruptions, and cancellation claims.
