The FOS said this was also a fall on the prior period from April to June, when the number of complaints came to 68,000.
The independent dispute resolution service said the decrease was due to professional representatives bringing fewer cases following the introduction of charges in April earlier this year.
The FOS said this ensures that “complaints are better-evidenced, and their merits are more carefully considered”, and professional representatives have had to withdraw or abandon a large number of cases and some case types had low uphold rates.
Professional representatives made up 4,300 cases in the second quarter of this financial year, which is down from 37,100 cases last year.
The FOS said that previously, motor finance complaints and perceived irresponsible and unaffordable lending were two areas where professional representatives made up a “significant proportion of cases”.
The growth of ‘just-off-high-street’ lending
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Motor finance complaints from this segment have contracted from 9,500 last year to around 2,200 in the same period this year. This was partially attributed to the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) complaints-handling pause and plans for a redress scheme.
For irresponsible and unaffordable lending, around 4,500 complaints were received between July and September this year, which is a decline from 24,900 cases last year.
Current accounts were the most complained-about product, at 7,900, with key issues being fraud and scams and administration or customer service.
The FOS reaffirmed that it was working with the Treasury and the FCA and that it would modernise the dispute resolution system so consumers can “continue to access a quick and high-quality alternative to the courts”.
James Dipple-Johnstone, interim chief ombudsman at the FOS, said: “We are undertaking an ambitious series of improvements to foster confidence in financial services now and in the future.
“Following a period of extraordinary demand, our case volumes are now starting to decrease as the measures we have implemented ensure the complaints [that] come to us are better-evidenced and ready to be investigated.
“The changes we have already introduced – and those we plan to make in the future – will allow us to focus on getting back to our core purpose for customers as a quick, informal and impartial alternative to the courts for resolving disputes.”
