The Australian Financial Complaints Authority has published a summary of its activities in its first year.
The data includes:
- 40% increase in complaints to AFCA (73,272 complaints) compared to predecessors (including 3,869 complaints
from small businesses); - 77% of all complaints resolved, with the majority of those resolved in 60 days or less;
- Sources of complaints included credit complaints (44%), general insurance (22%) and deposit taking (9%);
- 70% of complaints resolved in favour of the complainant;
- 11% of complaints made by people experiencing financial difficulty;
- Definite systemic issues currently under investigation: 50;
- total potential serious contraventions and other breaches identified since 1 November 2018: 30
- 17% of licensee members had a complaint lodged against them in the first 12 months.
Credit complaints
The main types of credit complaints were:
- Credit reporting;
- Responsible lending;
- Financial firm failure to respond to request for assistance;
- Incorrect fees/costs;
- Misleading product/service information.
Deposit-taking
The main types of deposit-taking complaints were:
- Unauthorised transactions;
- Service quality;
- Mistaken internet payment;
- Failure to follow instructions/agreement;
- Interpretation of product terms and conditions.
