Yahoo Finance Aussies slam banks with a record 97,000 complaints: ‘Not fair’
Delays in insurance claims were the top issue, up 76 per cent.
Aussies have made a record number of complaints against banks and financial institutions over the past year, as more households battle with the rising cost of living and the increasing number of scams.
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) received 96,987 complaints in the past 12 months, an unprecedented rise of 34 per cent on the previous financial year.
This was partly driven by a spike in banking and finance complaints, rising 27 per cent to 53,638, with a significant number of complaints from customers experiencing financial difficulty.
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AFCA’s chief ombudsman and CEO, David Locke, said the rise in complaints reflected growing stress in the community, the scourge of scams and issues with insurance claims.
“We are deeply concerned by the volume of complaints consumers are having to escalate to AFCA,” Locke said.
“It’s not fair on consumers and not good for business. We need to see a significant improvement from firms.”
CHOICE CEO Alan Kirkland said the record increase showed financial institutions weren’t doing enough to help Aussies facing cost-of-living pressures and scams.
“We urgently need strong rules that protect people from scams and poorly regulated loans,” Kirkland said.
Customers were able to secure $253.8 million in compensation and refunds, with complaints taking 69 days, on average, to resolve.
Top complaints
Delays in insurance claims were the top complaint, with a 76 per cent rise in complaints to 10,996. Overall, general insurance complaints rose 50 per cent to 27,924.
“It is disappointing that this continues to be a concern. While we acknowledge the challenges insurers have faced, the bulk of complaints in the past year were not about natural disasters but about regular claims,” Locke said.
Unauthorised transactions were the next most complained about issue, with complaints rising 69 per cent to 10,840.
This was followed by complaints about service quality, insurance claim amounts, and denial of insurance claims due to an exclusion or condition.
Buy now, pay later complaints were also up 57 per cent, with Locke noting people were turning to other forms of credit to manage their tighter budgets.
Meanwhile, personal transaction accounts overtook credit cards as the most complained about product, up 86 per cent. This was partly due to scam-related complaints, which were up 46 per cent.
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