FSPO Publishes Overview Of Complaints Made In 2025

On 25 March 2026, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) published its Overview of Complaints for 2025 (Complaints Overview), detailing the complaints handled that year.

In this article, we examine the main trends and figures and highlight key points for regulated financial service providers, particularly in the insurance sector.

Overview

In 2025, the FSPO received a record 7,004 complaints, an increase of 13% on 2024. Of these complaints, 6,282 were closed during the year, representing a 6% increase from 2024. The outcomes of closed complaints included settlements and directions totalling c. € 6.17 million.

Some other key takeaways from the Complaints Overview are as follows:

• Insurance complaints have almost doubled since 2022. The FSPO has described this trend as concerning and has indicated that it will result in increased regulatory engagement in the sector.
• Around 90% of all complaints closed in 2025 were resolved through early resolution or mediation, including complaints resolved before progressing to formal investigation.
• The average time taken to close a complaint through the FSPO Dispute Resolution Service in 2025 was 8.3 months. Complaints that progress beyond internal processes may therefore continue for extended periods.

Referral to Regulatory Authorities

During 2025, the FSPO made two referrals to the Central Bank of Ireland under its statutory powers. Both referrals arose from insurance complaints concerning unit-linked life assurance products. The circumstances of each complaint were:

• The first referral arose from a life assurance complaint in which the provider did not act on an instruction to stop policy deductions and surrender the policy. The FSPO partially upheld the complaint and referred the decision to the Central Bank due to concerns that the prolonged failure could indicate a systemic issue.
• The second referral related to repeated failures by the provider to correctly apply indexation to a unit-linked whole-of-life policy over a number of years. The FSPO substantially upheld the complaint, identified long-running and
• recurring failures. It again referred the decision to the Central Bank on the basis that the evidence suggested a systemic issue.

Formal Investigation Process

The FSPO issued 244 legally binding decisions in 2025. Six complaints were upheld, eight were substantially upheld, and 28 were partially upheld. Total compensation directed in the FSPO’s legally binding decisions amounted to €165,950. €511,140 was paid by providers to settle complaints during formal investigation without a binding decision. The FSPO identified €928,504 in redress offered by providers as reasonable in the circumstances and available for complainants to accept. In such cases, legally binding decisions were issued but the underlying complaints were not upheld, as no formal direction from the FSPO was necessary where the offer was deemed sufficient to remedy the conduct underpinning the complaint.

Mediation

The Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) closed 2,586 complaints in 2025, representing 41% of all complaints closed across all processes. 59% of all complaints closed through the DRS reached a mediation settlement. The FSPO continues to prioritise early resolution and to operate the ‘Return for Further Mediation’ process introduced in 2024. Of the complaints referred back to mediation from formal investigation, 47% were successfully resolved.

Sectoral Analysis

• Insurance complaints totalled 2,142 cases, an 18% increase since 2024 and amounting to 31% of overall complaints. The top three issues involved claim handling, claim rejection, and customer service. The highest volumes of complaints by product concerned motor, private health and travel insurance.
• Banking complaints accounted for 3,802 cases in 2025, a 12% increase on 2024 and representing 54% of all complaints. The top three issues involved disputed transactions, customer service and maladministration. The three products most complained of concerned accounts, mortgages and consumer credit.
• Pension complaints totalled 276, which was a 21% decrease from 2024. Pension complaints accounted for 8% of the FSPO’s overall complaints in 2025. The main issues involved maladministration, benefit calculations, and failure to provide information / correct information. Occupational pension schemes (86%) and PRSAs (8%) comprised most of the pension-related complaints.
• Investment complaints amounted to 525 cases, an increase of 28% on 2024 and representing 7% of overall complaints received last year. The top three issues concerned maladministration, customer service and fund management. The products most complained of involved investments and pensions.

Key complaint categories

Customer service remained the most common ground for complaint across all sectors, with 19% of complaints (1,345) relating to issues such as communications, complaint handling, access to accounts and failures to provide information.

Disputed transactions were the second-most common ground for complaint, with 1,297 cases, representing a 28% increase over 2024. Disputed transactions accounted for 34% of banking complaints and 19% of all complaints. The FSPO linked this increase to a continuing rise in fraud and included case studies to highlight the types of scams affecting customers. While the FSPO does not investigate fraud itself, it can examine how providers respond when customers report suspected fraud on their accounts.

The downward trend in tracker mortgage complaints continued in 2025, with only 11 new complaints received. The FSPO closed 143 tracker mortgage complaints in 2025. The Complaints Overview notes that some customers continue to believe they are entitled to a tracker mortgage rate despite having no contractual or other entitlement.

Conclusion

The Complaints Overview provides a useful summary of the nature of complaints received by the FSPO in 2025 across each key financial services sector. Notably, the only sector to experience a decline in complaints was pensions, and it will be

interesting to see whether this trend continues over the course of 2026, particularly with the implementation of the new auto-enrolment pension scheme requirements earlier this year. Regulated entities should review in detail the complaint categories and statistics for their relevant area, having regard to their own internal practices, in order to best serve their consumers.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.