The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) publishes Complaints Data twice a year, in April and October, providing valuable insight into how financial services firms are managing customer complaints. Each release contains both firm-level information and aggregate market-wide statistics, capturing the vast majority of complaints reported across the UK. For those seeking further data, additional information is available from the Financial Ombudsman Service.
The latest publication, covering the first half of 2025, provides valuable transparency into firms’ complaint-handling performance and notably identifies an increase in complaint volumes compared with the same period last year. It remains an important benchmarking resource for firms assessing their performance against peers, while also offering consumers clearer insight into how regulated firms are delivering fair and consistent customer outcomes.
Understanding FCA Complaints and Reporting
According to the FCA, a complaint is defined as any expression of dissatisfaction from eligible complainants relating to activities carried out by a firm’s UK-based establishment or its appointed representative, in line with the definition in the FCA Handbook glossary. A complaint is considered “resolved” once the complainant accepts the firm’s response, with written confirmation not being required.
Complaints from firms solely authorised for consumer credit activities are not included in the aggregate dataset until the firm receives full FCA authorisation, and publication of such complaints requires either explicit firm consent or prior self-publication.
The FCA publishes a comprehensive range of complaints data, combining headline figures with interactive dashboards to provide deeper insights.
The dashboards allow users to analyse:
- Trends in opened, closed and upheld complaints;
- Redress levels paid by firms;
- Complaint volumes by firm or product type;
- Common causes of complaints; and
- Market-wide comparisons.
Firm-specific data is collected from approximately 290 firms that report either 500 or more complaints in a six-month period or 1,000 or more in a year. These firms are also required to publish their complaints data on their own websites and account for roughly 98% of all complaints reported to the FCA.
The FCA provides this data through eight searchable, sortable tables at the firm level, as well as a downloadable Excel file organised by five complaint product groups. Firms reporting fewer than 500 complaints submit more limited information and are excluded from detailed publication.
In addition, the FCA aggregates market-level complaints data from over 3,000 regulated firms. This includes total opened and closed complaints, those upheld in favour of customers and redress paid during the reporting period, offering a holistic view of trends across the financial services industry.
Latest Findings
In the first half of 2025, firms received 1.85 million complaints, up 3.6% from 1.78 million in the second half of 2024. Despite this increase, overall complaint volumes have remained relatively stable since 2021, consistently ranging between 1.7 and 2.0 million. It will be interesting to see whether the patterns observed in H1 2025 persist in the H2 2025 data, which is scheduled for publication on 28 April 2026.
Product Groups Showing Increases in H1 2025
- Banking and credit cards: Up 7.2% to 899,861 (from 839,526)
- Decumulation and pensions: Up 5.5% to 94,035 (from 89,172)
- Investments: Up 10.1% to 58,303 (from 52,971)
Product Groups Showing Decreases in H1 2025
- Home finance: Down 6.3% to 78,641 (from 83,936)
- Insurance and pure protection: Slight decrease of 0.2% to 717,406 (from 718,497)
How Complyport Can Help
Complaints handling continues to be a key focus area for the FCA. The publication of complaints data serves as a reminder that firms must have robust processes for tracking, analysing and responding to customer complaints and for learning from them.
Complyport can support your firm with:
- Complaints Framework Reviews: Assessing your firm’s complaints-handling arrangements against FCA rules and best practice expectations.
- Governance and Documentation: Reviewing and updating complaints policies, procedures, website disclosures and training materials to align with regulatory requirements.
- Proactive Benchmarking: Helping firms understand how their complaints profile compares to market peers and identifying areas of emerging conduct risk.
- Regulatory Support and Preparation: Advising on FCA supervisory expectations and helping firms prepare for potential queries arising from complaints trends or published data.
Contact Us
Get in touch with Complyport today to book a meeting with one of our subject matter experts and ensure your complaints-handling arrangements are fit for purpose.
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