The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has revised the number of complaints it expects to see during 2024/25 from 181,300 to 210,000.
It said this is due to several factors, such as everyday financial concerns such as unaffordable lending, credit card complaints and fraud and scams.
However, the FOS added it has reduced the time it takes to resolve a case from 4.8 months in 2022/23 to 2.96 months by the last three months of 2023/24. It has also set itself a new target of resolving 90% of cases within six months.
Additionally, it has committed to resolve 17% more cases in the year ahead than in 2023/24, up from 192,500 to 225,000.
In order to combat the increased workload, the FOS will be recruiting more handlers.
There is also a commitment to continue investing in the customer and business digital journey, as well as expanding its regional presence in the UK to ensure the Ombudsman is accessible to different communities.
The FOS has also confirmed its intention to reduce the cost of its services to industry in 2024/25.
Case fees will also drop by £100 per case to £650, while the compulsory and voluntary jurisdiction levy costs to businesses will also be reduced. This will result in an effective £60m reduction in case fee and levy costs to businesses, once inflation and increases in the number of cases are taken into account.
FOS chief executive and chief ombudsman Abby Thomas said: “The Financial Ombudsman Service continues to make significant improvements in the service we offer, getting customers decisions more quickly while maintaining the high quality of our work. We will be even more ambitious next year, with plans to resolve complaints faster, while also reducing the cost of our service to businesses.
“In the year ahead it’s likely that our service will see increasing levels of complaints, with many of those disputes expected to focus on the critical issues that impact people’s everyday lives. This includes perceived unaffordable lending, concerns about car-loan agreements and disputes around fraud and scams.
“With uncertainty around casework levels in the year ahead, we’re building a service that is flexible and agile, allowing us to respond to increased demand across any area of our business.
“Our plans will help ensure that the customer is at the heart of everything we do. We want every person who engages with our service to clearly understand the outcome of their case. Now more than ever, it’s crucial that businesses work with us to improve all customers’ experiences of financial services.”
