Over 70,000 financial complaints lodged in last 12 months

AFCA announced the news on Monday, confirming that the number of complaints involving financial difficulty is down by nearly 40 per cent.

Almost 70 per cent of the 70,510 complaints made were resolved by agreement and nearly 60 per cent were resolved within 60 days.

Of the complaints, 14 per cent were made about credit card issues including default listings and unauthorised transactions.

Over $240 million in compensation and refunds were secured from the complaints lodged.

“Significantly, complaints involving financial difficulty were down nearly 40 per cent from the numbers we saw the previous year,” AFCA’s Chief Ombudsman, David Locke, said.

“That’s a great outcome and reflects the positive response from government and industry to the impact of COVID. 

“However, it’s too early to say we’re out of the woods yet. It may be some months before we know the full impact of the end of government emergency support and assistance from financial firms such as deferred loan repayments. And, of course, we are still living with COVID-19. 

“It’s important that consumers and financial service providers continue to work together to resolve issues quickly as they emerge.

“The past 12 months show what’s possible when that happens.”

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.