Advisers resolving complaints: FSCL

Financial advisers are dealing well with customer complaints, usually resolving them before any external investigation is needed, Financial Services Complaints Ltd says.

Thursday, July 10th 2014, 6:00AM

by Susan Edmunds

All financial services providers are required to be registered with an external disputes resolution service.

FSCL said the number of inquiries and complaints it received over 2013/2014 financial year was up 85% on the year before, to 3159, from 1259.

But the number of complaints it had to formally investigate was only up 24%.

Of the 202 cases that were investigated, more than half, 109, were settled soon after the investigation started, through conciliation with a FSCL staff member, or by a recommendation suggesting the participant pay compensation. Only four cases required a formal ruling.

A total of $786,372 was paid out in compensation over the year, up from $514,785,62 the previous year.

Chief executive Susan Taylor said consumers were becoming more empowered to seek help when things went wrong, but providers were doing a good job putting things right.

She said the number of complaints about advisers was relatively few. Most complaints were about consumer credit, at 44, followed by travel insurance, at 42.

Of the formal complaints about advisers, most were about insurance advisers, she said. There were 17 relating to insurance advisers, two against mortgage advisers and four against financial advisers.

Those complaints came out of 294 inquiries received about insurance advisers, 177 about investment advisers and 47 about mortgage brokers.

Taylor said that showed problems were being dealt with well. “People are doing a good job of resolving complaints at the first instance.”

She said some members were finding FSCL’s Give Us A Call service useful, where they could call to discuss how to deal with a complaint. But she said the number using it was not high.

FSCL will cut its member fee by 12.5% for the 2014/2015 year. Taylor said increased efficiencies made a reduction possible for the second year in a row.

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