One in seven complaints received by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) in the past 12 months was related to COVID-19, but few were related to products or services available through the financial advice sector.
Figures released by AFCA for the 12 months since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization show 11,482 complaints were received in the past year that related to COVID-19, out of the total number of 77,739 complaints received by the authority.
AFCA chief operating officer Justin Untersteiner said while COVID-19-related complaints represented around 15 per cent of all complaints, it was less than anticipated.
“While not seeking to downplay the challenges people have faced, and continue to face, this was fewer complaints than we thought might arise from the pandemic,” Untersteiner said.
“Banks were quick to respond, providing emergency support as they handled unprecedented numbers of requests for repayment deferrals. Superannuation funds worked with us to resolve consumer concerns about early access to super funds. Government financial support measures also played a vital role.”
He added 65 per cent of the COVID-related complaints were received in the first six months after March 2020 as consumers and financial services firms adapted to the impact of the virus and then fell away as the economy steadied.
The leading product lines for complaints were credit (41 per cent), general insurance (37 per cent) and superannuation (11 per cent), and the leading product types for complaints were travel insurance (3516 complaints), credit cards (1590 complaints) and home loans (1204 complaints)
“One year on, AFCA has been able to resolve nearly 90 per cent of the COVID-related complaints it received – in the vast majority of cases by helping individual complainants and financial firms reach agreement,” Untersteiner said.
“Overall, in 2020 AFCA received 77,739 complaints, up 5 per cent on the number in 2019. Resolved disputes resulted in compensation and refunds totalling $294 million going to consumers and small businesses. AFCA also undertook investigations into a range of systemic issues in 2020, resulting in remediation payments to consumers and small businesses totalling $187.3 million.”
