Complainants lodged more than 9,400 complaints with AFCA in August 2023, up 11% from August 2022. Banking and finance complaints were up 41% year-on-year while general insurance complaints were up by 14%. There was also a 49% year-on-year rise in superannuation complaints, primarily driven by delays in claim handling, service quality and account administration errors.  

AFCA closed 9,382 complaints, 37% more than it closed in August 2022. More than half (58% or 5,464) were closed at Registration and Referral, 7% at Rules (637 complaints), 31% at Case Management (2,884 complaints) and 4% at Decision (397 complaints).    

Banking and finance 

We received over 5,000 banking and finance complaints in August, excluding complaints about financial difficulty. This was a 41% year-on-year increase compared to August 2022 (5,118 compared to 3,629). 

We saw a 15% year-on-year increase in complaints about financial difficulty. However, compared to last month, we did see a slight decrease (4%) in these complaints. This was primarily due to a decrease in the complaints relating to ‘financial firm failure to respond to request for assistance’ which was down 17%. 

Personal transaction account complaints continue to be the most common product complained about, representing 26% of banking and finance complaints. This is followed by credit cards (23%) and home loans (12%).  

Unauthorised transaction issues represent the largest banking issue overall (21%, up from 19%), followed by service quality (7%), and interpretation of product terms and conditions (5%). 

General insurance   

There was a 14% year-on-year increase in general insurance complaints, from 2,254 in August 2022 to 2,567 in August 2023. Motor vehicle comprehensive complaints made up 36% of all general insurance complaints, up 9% from July. Issues relating to claim delay and denial of claim – exclusion/condition drove this monthly increase. 

Home building complaints remained relatively stable, increasing just 1% in August, with claim delay being the most complained about issue. Meanwhile, consumer credit insurance complaints decreased 14% month-on-month.

Delays in claim handling continues to represent the largest issue (26% of general insurance complaints), followed by claim amount (21%) and denial of claim – exclusion/condition (11%). 

Superannuation   

Superannuation complaints saw a 49% year-on-year increase, from 490 complaints in August 2022 to 732 complaints in August 2023.    

Delay in claim handling complaints remained the largest issue (26%), while superannuation account was the most complained about product (64%). In saying this, complaints about superannuation accounts decreased 10% this month, due to improvements in several issues, including service quality (down 21%), claim delay (down 24%) and account administration error (down 15%). 

Meanwhile, complaints about death benefits increased 38% from July, and 90% from August 2022. 

Investments and advice   

There was an 85% year-on-year decrease in investment and advice complaints (1,650 to 243). This was due to a large number of complaints received about two financial firms in the 2022-23 financial year. 

Shares was the most common product complained about (representing 28% of investment complaints), down 59% from last year. Issues relating to service quality accounted for 23% of share complaints 

Life insurance   

Life insurance complaints increased 20% this August compared to the same period last year, from 141 to 169. 

Income protection was the most complained about product (38%), followed by total and permanent disability (15%) and whole of life (14%). 

Denial of claim was the most complained about issue (16%), followed by claim delay (12%) and incorrect premiums (9%). 

Small business    

We saw a monthly decrease of 12% in complaints lodged by small business, despite a 61% year-on-year increase. 

Business loans were the most complained about product (31%), followed by business transaction accounts (27%) and commercial property (12%). 

Unauthorised transactions was the most complained about issue (10%), followed by interpretation of product terms and conditions (6%) and denial of claim (6%). 

We did however see a 5% increase from last month in small business complaints relating to financial difficulty.