AFCA complaints hit record
The volume of complaints being escalated to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has been increasing at an unsustainable rate, according to the authority’s chief ombudsman and chief executive, David Locke.
Reporting a record 100,000 complaints received by AFCA, Locke said scam-related complaints had nearly doubled between 12022 and 2022 and continued to be of great concern to AFCA.
He said that the authority was also seeing the impact of increased interest rates and cost of living pressures, with complaints involving financial hardship also significantly higher.
According to a statement issued on Monday, in 2023 AFCA received 102,790 complaints from consumers and small businesses who were unable to resolve disputes directly with their financial firms.
It said this was a jump of 23% on 2022.
Consumers secured $304 million in compensation and refunds after coming to AFCA, which was up 38 per cent on the previous year.
AFCA registered 8,987 complaints related to scams, up 95 per cent from 4,611 in 2022. Complaints involving financial hardship totalled 5,396, up 29 per cent on 2022.
There were also rises in complaints about other financial products that AFCA covers, which include banking and finance, insurance, investments and advice, and superannuation.
Financial advice did not rank significantly highly amid the complaints filed with AFCA with the top five issues listed as:
Unauthorised transactions
Delay in claims handling,
Service quality
Claim amount
Denial of claim
Time for advisers to be removed from AFCA. This should be a retail finance service not professional.
Professional standards board now!!
AFCA and ASIC are major drivers in the rise of consumers being scammed. ASIC and AFCA’s persecution and red tape strangulation of honest professional financial advisers makes it harder for consumers to access professional advice. ASIC and AFCA’s vilification of honest professional advisers makes it harder for consumers to differentiate good advice sources from bad. ASIC and AFCA are pushing consumers into harm’s way.
Nothing like AFCA talking up their book to get increased Govt funding. Prior to Hayne, advisers dealt with a lot of the consumer complaints consumers had. It’s a complete mess now, in every possible way.
$3 Billion scammed last year from our dodgy banks that refuse to protect consumers online where Banks have forced us all to operate, including the elderly.
$33 Billion in big 4 bank profits last year & bugger all invested in consumer protection.
Yet ASIC are still trying to kill Real Advisers whilst the banks and ASIC simply watch $3 billion of consumer loses.
WHAT A COMPLETELY STUFFED UP, CORRUPT CANBERRA AND BANKS WE HAVE.