AFCA received 7,398 complaints in February 2023, an increase of 32% over February 2022 when AFCA received 5,625 complaints.  

This brings the total number of complaints lodged with AFCA since 1 July 2022 to 60,544. 

Complaint volumes have mostly grown across banking and finance, general insurance and superannuation sectors, while investment and advice and life insurance complaint numbers have remained somewhat steady.  

6,771 complaints were closed by AFCA in February. Just over half (53%) were resolved at Registration and Referral, while 7% were closed at Rules, 31% at Case Management and 5% at Decision.  

AFCA Chief Ombudsman and CEO David Locke spoke about complaint volumes and delays in processing complaints at the March Member Forum. You can watch this here.  

Banking and finance complaints 

There was a 24% increase in banking and finance complaints in February 2023 compared to the February 2022 (3,761 compared to 3,024 complaints).  

Meanwhile, financial difficulty complaints only grew by 5% year-on-year, with 378 complaints. 

More than 800 banking and finance complaints related to unauthorised transactions, while 402 complaints related to scams.  

Complaints relating to personal transaction accounts almost doubled compared to February 2022, from 574 to 1,044 complaints.  

General insurance complaints 

AFCA continues to see around 2,000 general insurance complaints a month, driven mostly by delays in claim handling matters. 

In February 2023, 2,275 general insurance complaints were lodged with AFCA, a year-on-year increase of 53%.  

Home building and motor vehicle comprehensive complaints increased 54% (from 515 to 795) and 50% (from 489 to 734) respectively year on year. For home building, claim denials accounted for 43%, up from 39% over the same month last year.  

Overall delay in claim handling complaints represented the single largest issue in general insurance, increasing 78% compared to February 2022.  

Superannuation complaints 

Super complaints grew by 20% in February 2023 compared to February 2022 – with 469 complaints compared to 392 complaints. This increase was primarily driven by delay in claim handling matters which increased by 95% year-on-year (from 64 to 125 complaints). 

The most common superannuation product complained about was superannuation accounts, with 260 complaints.  

Investments and advice and life insurance complaints 

There were 177 investment and advice complaints lodged with AFCA in February 2023, 22% fewer than in February 2022. Share related complaints represented the largest product complained about (28%). 

Life insurance complaints dropped by 24% in February 2023 compared to the same period last year (152 compared to 199 complaints). Income protection complaints and TPD increased 16% (from 49 to 57) and 118% (from 11 to 24) year on year respectively.