The Financial Ombudsman Service received 57,000 cases in the second quarter of 2026/27

This is not a new rule change, but it is a material supervisory signal: complaint volumes are broadening, and firms should expect continued scrutiny of complaint handling, root-cause analysis, and redress outcomes. For compliance teams, the priority is to test whether internal complaint MI aligns with FOS trends, whether recurring drivers are being escalated to product, conduct-risk, and financial-crime committees, and whether customers in vulnerable circumstances are receiving fair outcomes. Firms in payments and banking should review fraud and scam complaint journeys, including dispute handling and reimbursement controls, while consumer-credit and insurance providers should assess affordability, disclosure, and claims-handling drivers.

Actionable steps include refreshing complaint trend dashboards, sampling FOS-referred cases, reviewing root-cause remediation plans, strengthening first-line training, and ensuring board-level oversight of upheld rates and redress costs. Proactive firms can use this data to reduce repeat complaints, improve customer outcomes, and lower operational and reputational risk.