More than 11,000 complaints were lodged with AFCA in March 2023, a new monthly record for the ombudsman service. AFCA has now received 71,737 complaints since 1 July 2022 (as of 1 April 2023).  

The spike in March was primarily driven by banking and finance and general insurance matters, as well as recent initiatives by AFCA to reduce the Registration and Referral complaint queue. 

Last month, AFCA received 11,368 complaints, an increase of 72% compared to March 2022 when AFCA received 6,606 complaints.  

AFCA closed 8,323 complaints; the highest number of complaints closed by AFCA in a single month. More than 4,700 complaints (57%) were resolved at Registration and Referral, while 521 (6%) were closed at Rules, 2,676 (32%) at Case Management and 416 (5%) at Decision.  

While delays continue, AFCA has been taking steps to try and reduce timeframes over the last few months, including by: 

• investing in technology solutions that speed up parts of our process   
• actively recruiting and re-assigning staff to high-impact product areas   
• batching complaints that lend themselves to being resolved by one defined approach; and   
• regularly communicating with complainants about the progress of their complaint. 

AFCA’s proactive approach has enabled our people to continue to resolve complaints in an efficient and timely way. The average number of days to resolve a complaint this financial year to date is 69 days (compared to 72 days in the FY21-22 financial year), while aged cases continue to sit at around 1%.  

Banking and finance  

More than 6,000 (6,383) banking and finance complaints were lodged with AFCA in March, up 74% from the same period last year. There was a 27% increase in financial difficulty complaints in March 2023 compared to March 2022. 

More than 1,700 banking and finance complaints related to personal transaction accounts (up 152% from March 2022). More than a third (37%) of these complaints were about unauthorised transactions.  

Credit cards and home loan matters were also up 55% and 72% year-on-year respectively. As like personal transaction account complaints, 22% of credit card complaints were about unauthorised transactions.  

General insurance 

There was an 83% year-on-year increase in general insurance complaints (3,447 in March 2023 compared to 1,886 in March 2022). 

Most complaints were about home building (1,098) and motor vehicle comprehensive insurance (1,131).  

There was a spike in travel insurance complaints, which increased by 327% (from 56 in March 2022 to 239 in March 2023). Around 38% of travel insurance complaints related to delays in claim handling.  

Overall, delay in claim handling complaints represented the single largest issue in insurance, increasing 82% over last March.   

Superannuation 

AFCA received 821 superannuation complaints in March, up 70% from last year when AFCA received 482 complaints. 

Superannuation accounts was the most complained about product with 565 complaints. The most common issue was delay in claim handling, with 219 complaints.  

Investments and advice 

There was only a 15% year-on-year increase in investment and advice complaints (284 compared to 248). 

Shares was the most common product (23%), while the most common issues were service quality (13%) and account administration error (11%). 

Small business 

Small business complaints increased year-on-year by 38%, from 310 in March 2022 to 428 in March 2023.  

Unauthorised transactions accounted for 8% of small business complaints, while delay in claim handling and service quality accounted for 7% each.  

Life insurance 

Life insurance complaints fell by 21% year-on-year (from 275 to 216).  

Delay in claim handling accounted for most issues (18%), followed by incorrect premiums (12%) and denial of claim (11%).