Banking and finance and general insurance matters continue to drive the year-on-year increase in complaints at AFCA – with unauthorised transactions, scams and delays in claim handling being some the most common issues among complainants.  

More than 7,000 complaints were lodged with AFCA in April 2023, up 23% from April 2022. Banking and finance complaints were up 28% year-on-year while general insurance complaints were up by 16%. There was also a 37% year-on-year rise in superannuation complaints in April, primarily driven by superannuation account complaints and delays in claim handling.  

AFCA closed 7,777 complaints, 35% more than it closed in April 2022. Nearly two-thirds (64% or 4,946) were closed at Registration and Referral, 5% at Rules (365 complaints), 28% at Case Management (2,170 complaints) and 4% at Decision (296 complaints).  

Banking and finance 

Nearly 4,000 banking and finance related complaints were lodged with AFCA in April. This was a 27% year-on-year increase compared to April 2022 (3,959 compared to 3,112).  

There were an additional 334 financial difficulty related complaints made to AFCA last month, up 6% compared to April last year. AFCA has not seen the same increase in financial difficulty complaints as other products and issues. However, AFCA understands that mortgage stress and financial difficulty are likely to be significant issues in the second half of this year. 

Personal transaction account complaints continue to be the most common product complained about (up 96% year-on-year from 633 to 1,239), with unauthorised transactions making up a third (35%) of these complaints.  

Unauthorised transactions are also common among other products – with 18% of all banking and finance complaints relating to this issue.  

There were 250 scam related complaints in April. Scam complaints now account for about 4% of all complaints lodged with AFCA.  

General insurance 

There was a 16% year-on-year increase in general insurance complaints, from 1,706 in April 2022 to 1,976 in April 2022. Home building complaints were up 5%, comprehensive motor vehicle insurance complaints were up 18%, while travel insurance complaints were up 81%.  

Delays in claim handling continues to represent the single largest issue (26% of general insurance complaints), although it has decreased 11% year-on-year for April (from 572 to 511) and is also trending down 25% over its previous 6-monthly average (679). Claim amount is the second most complained about issue (19%), followed by denial of claim (17%). 

Complaints relating to flooding in February 2022 continue to drop. Only 57 complaints were received for the February 22 QLD/NSW floods significant event, down from 70 in April 2022 and down from a peak of 269 in September 2022. 

Superannuation 

Superannuation complaints saw a 37% year-on-year increase, from 379 complaints in April 2022 to 518 complaints in April 2023.  

Delay in claim handling complaints (which represents the largest super issue with 29%) increased 153% year-on-year for April, from 60 to 152. Most of these related to superannuation accounts and Total and Permanent Disability. 

Investments and advice 

There was an 18% year-on-year decrease in investment and advice complaints (191 from 232).  

Shares was the most common product complained about (representing 18% of investment complaints), however this was down 41% from April 2022 (from 58 to 34). The most common issue was failure to act in client’s best interests (representing 14% of investment complaints), followed by service quality (14%) and inappropriate advice (10%).  

Life insurance 

Life insurance complaints declined 35% year-on-year (from 187 to 121). 

Whole of life complaints (which accounted for 20% of life insurance complaints in April 2023) increased 62% over April last year (from 13 to 21). These mostly related to cancellation of policy, incorrect premiums, and delay in claim handling. Income protection was the most complained about product (31%, with 37 complaints), although it is down 8% year-on-year.  

Small business  

Small business complaints remained steady, with 256 complaints in April 2023 compared to 258 in April 2022. Most small business complaints were banking matters (82%) followed by general insurance matters (18%).