Complainants lodged more than 8,400 complaints with AFCA in October 2023, up 4% from October 2022. Banking and finance complaints were up 12% year-on-year, while general insurance complaints were down by 7%. There was also a 21% year-on-year rise in superannuation complaints, primarily driven by delays in claim handling, account administration errors and service quality.

AFCA closed 9,451 complaints. More than half (59% or 5,533) were closed at Registration and Referral, 8% at Rules (1,414 complaints), 29% at Case Management (3,194 complaints) and 5% at Decision (431 complaints).

Banking and finance  

We received 4,595 banking and finance complaints in October, excluding complaints about financial difficulty. This was a 12% year-on-year increase compared to October 2022 (4,089 complaints).

We saw a 11% year-on-year increase in complaints about financial difficulty. Compared to last month, this was a 2% increase in these complaints. This was led by issues relating to ‘financial firm failure to respond to requests for assistance’, which made up 60% of all financial difficulty issues.

Personal transaction account complaints continue to be the most common product complained about, representing 24% of banking and finance complaints. This is followed by credit cards (19%) and personal loans (14%).

Unauthorised transaction issues represent the largest banking issue overall (21%), followed by service quality (6%), and default listings (6%).

AFCA received 973 scam complaints in October 2023, which is a 103% increase from October 2022.

General insurance

There was a 7% year-on-year decrease in general insurance complaints, from 2,434 in October 2022 to 2,271 in October 2023. Motor vehicle comprehensive complaints made up 38% of all general insurance complaints, up 35% from last month. This was followed by home building (26%) and travel insurance (8%)

Delays in claim handling continues to represent the largest issue (24% of general insurance complaints), followed by claim amount (19%) and denial of claim (15%).

Superannuation  

Superannuation complaints saw a 21% year-on-year increase, from 546 complaints in October 2022 to 662 complaints in October 2023.   

Delay in claim handling complaints remained the largest issue (25%), while superannuation account was the most complained about product (62%).

Meanwhile, complaints about death benefits made up 11% of all superannuation complaints, and increased 31% from last month (from 54 to 71). This was driven by increases in claim delay (up 55%) and death benefit distribution (up 89%, albeit from a small base).

Investments and advice  

There was an 54% year-on-year decrease in investment and advice complaints (448 to 207).

Shares was the most common product complained about (representing 30% of investment and advice complaints). Meanwhile, ‘Financial firm failure to act in client’s best interest’ was the most complained about issue, accounting for 15% of investments and advice complaints.

Life insurance  

Life insurance complaints increased 6% this October compared to the same period last year, from 141 to 150.

Income protection was the most complained about product (35%), followed by term life (21%) and total and permanent disability (16%).

Claim delay was the most complained about issue (17%), followed by incorrect premiums (12%) and denial of claim (9%).

Small business   

We saw a monthly decrease of 8% in complaints lodged by small business (from 357 to 329).

Business loans were the most complained about product (37%), followed by business transaction accounts (27%) and commercial property (9%).

Service quality was the most complained about issue (7%), followed by failure to follow instructions/agreements (6%) and unauthorised transactions (6%).