Complaints about SIPPs to the Financial Ombudsman rose by 37% over the past 12 months but complaints about IFAs fell steeply at the same time, according to FOS data released today.

The statistics, revealed in the FOS 2017/18 annual review, showed complaints about SIPPs jumped from 1,493 to 2,051 in the last financial year (1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018).

The same report showed a steep fall in complaints against IFAs, with FOS receiving 1,678 complaints against them and a third upheld in consumers’ favour compared to 2,197 in the previous financial year where over a third (36%) were upheld.

Other key statistics from the review were:
 
• Nearly 1.5 million enquiries were received, equivalent to nearly 3 enquiries per minute
• Almost 340,000 new complaints were made compared to 321,000 in 2016/17
• More than half (55%) of complaints were about PPI
• Excluding PPI, consumer credit complaints accounted for almost one in four complaints
 
Complaints against financial advisers continued to account for just 0.5% of the total complaints that the ombudsman received in the last financial year.
 
Pensions remained the most complained about product against financial advisers with 451 complaints made, followed by mortgages (118), packaged investment products (103) and payment protection insurance (56).

A FOS spokesman told Financial Planning Today: “It’s always encouraging to see the number of complaints about financial advisers fall, as well as the uphold rate.

"We’ll continue to work with IFAs across the country to discuss our approach to complaint handling and key issues facing IFAs.”