Debt concern as complaints rise

More Britons are complaining to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) as they worry that the conduct of financial firms will drive them to seek debt solutions.

In the first six months of this year, the FOS received more than 80,000 (84,212) new complaints – an increase of over 2,000 (2,076) from the first half of 2009.

Mike O'Connor from Consumer Focus worries that the increase suggests that "too many companies are not taking complaints seriously and are content to leave them to pursue problems with the Ombudsman instead."

However, more complaints do not mean more consumers are receiving compensation.

The FOS upheld 44 per cent of complaints between January and June, compared to 53 per cent in the second half of 2009.

Debt solutions expert, Atlantic Financial Management, warns that these figures suggest consumers can't rely on compensation to get them out of financial problems.

Debt problems – payday loans

15/03/2011

Once again British consumers struggling against debt problems have been told to avoid resorting to t ...

Debt problems: Interest rate threat

14/03/2011

An increase in interest rates could plunge hundreds of thousands of households into debt problems. < ...

Debt problems: borrow to pay debts?

08/03/2011

People thinking about borrowing money in a bid to alleviate their debt problems have been told only ...

Debt problems – pay off debt

07/03/2011

People with debt problems currently considering the best ways to deal with them, might be interested ...