Blogs · July 2026
Insurance complaints in 2026: what the Ombudsman's data actually says
The tide went out across financial services. Insurance barely moved. And inside insurance, commercial is going the other way.
The short answer: complaints to the Financial Ombudsman across all financial products fell from 305,726 to 214,600 in 2025/26, a drop of nearly 30%. Insurance went from 45,529 to 45,330, a fall of 0.4%. A major reason the rest of the market fell is that professional representatives, the claims farms, dropped from 50% of the Ombudsman's caseload to 18% after the referral fee came in. Insurance never had that volume to lose. So insurance volume is flat, and what remains is far more likely to be your own customers complaining directly rather than claims farms doing it for them.
Below is the detail, including a line-of-business split that the Ombudsman does not publish in that form, and one figure of our own that did not reconcile.
And the thing worth saying before any of it: the work can leave. The accountability does not. You are the regulated firm and you stay the regulated firm. Anyone telling you an agent moves the FCA off your desk is selling you a problem.
How many insurance complaints did the Ombudsman receive in 2025/26?
45,330, against 45,529 the year before. A fall of 0.4%.
That figure is our own total. The Ombudsman publishes the underlying rows but not an insurance total, so we summed the insurance rows of its published dataset for both years. The spreadsheets are linked in Sources so you can reproduce the sum yourself.
For comparison, all financial products fell from 305,726 to 214,600, nearly 30%.
Why did complaints fall everywhere except insurance?
A major reason is claims farms leaving, not service improving.
Professional representatives dropped from 50% of the Ombudsman's caseload (152,800 cases) to 18% (38,600) after the referral fee changed their economics.
Insurance never carried that same weight of representative-driven complaints, so it had no cushion to lose. Two consequences follow, and the second is the one that matters:
- Insurance volume is flat because it is flat.
- A lot of the noise has come out of the number. What remains is far more likely to be your own customers, which makes it closer to signal.
If complaint volume has been explained internally as a claims-farm problem, that explanation stopped working on 21 May 2026, when the data changed.
What is the uphold rate for insurance complaints?
Above the market on every major insurance line. The all-product average uphold rate fell from 34% to 30%. Insurance sits above it.
| Product | Uphold rate 2025/26 |
|---|---|
| Car or motorcycle insurance | 35.4% |
| Buildings insurance | 38.0% |
| Pet insurance | 41.4% |
| Commercial vehicle insurance | 43.8% |
Are commercial insurance complaints rising?
Yes, while personal lines fall. The trade press reports insurance complaints as one bucket, and the quarterly cuts that exist are personal lines. So we split the Ombudsman's dataset by line of business. Personal and commercial are going in opposite directions.
| 2024/25 | 2025/26 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buildings insurance (personal) | 7,321 | 6,399 | down 12.6% |
| Commercial property insurance | 1,582 | 1,695 | up 7.1% |
| Personal motor (car or motorcycle) | 14,082 | 13,420 | down 4.7% |
| Commercial vehicle insurance | 1,423 | 1,429 | flat |
And commercial customers win more often when they complain: commercial vehicle complaints are upheld 43.8% of the time against 35.4% for a private car, a gap of over eight points.
What this does not show. We have no data on why, and we are not going to invent a mechanism to sell you something. The pattern is real. The explanation is yours to test against your own book.
This split is our own arithmetic from the Ombudsman's published datasets, linked in Sources. We are making a claim about the data, not about ourselves: we have not checked the paywalled trade titles, so we do not know whether anyone else has published it.
Our correction to one number
Our earlier material carried 45,606 insurance complaints for 2024/25. The dataset sums to 45,529. We are correcting that here rather than quietly switching it.
The components reconcile exactly, motor at 14,082 and buildings at 7,321, so the discrepancy sits in the total, most likely a different treatment of the rows the Ombudsman suppresses when a figure is under ten. We are using 45,529 and citing the dataset. If you have quoted 45,606 from us before, that is the correction.
We publish this for a practical reason rather than a confessional one. You are personally accountable to a regulator, and a number you cannot defend in a board meeting is worse than no number at all.
Is motor going up or down?
Both, depending on the window, and you should know both.
- On the annual figures, personal motor complaints fell 4.7% across 2025/26 (14,082 to 13,420).
- On the latest quarter, Insurance DataLab's Q1 2026 cut shows motor complaints up almost 12% year on year (3,519 against 3,145), reported 2 July 2026.
The year is down. The most recent quarter is up. Both are true, and we flag it here rather than leave you to find it, because a Head of Claims will. If you are seeing a turn in your own motor numbers, that is consistent with the published data.
What is FCA CP26/22?
A consultation called "Simplifying insurance rules", opened by the FCA on 26 June 2026 and closing on 4 September 2026.
It matters here because it puts the treatment of commercial customers on the table in public, at the same time as commercial complaints are quietly rising. As Jill Hambley, MD of UKGI Group, told Insurance Business UK in February 2026: "Commercial business has essentially been pulled into a framework originally designed for consumers."
How long does a firm have to respond to a complaint?
By the end of eight weeks after receiving it, under FCA Handbook DISP 1.6. For payment services complaints it is 15 business days, or 35 business days in exceptional circumstances.
Worth noting where the risk actually sits: complaints are rarely lost in week eight. They are lost in the first few days, when someone rang and nobody picked up, and an enquiry hardened into a grievance.
We do not have a figure for where the eight weeks are actually spent. No public source we could find breaks it down. If a supplier shows you one, ask for the dataset.
Are claims getting more expensive?
Yes, while premiums fall.
- The average household claim reached £6,340 in Q1 2026, the highest on record, up 20% year on year.
- The average weather damage claim was £6,040, up 38% from £4,390, the highest first quarter on record.
- The average combined buildings and contents premium fell for a fourth consecutive quarter to £375, down 5%.
Claims are getting dearer and premiums are still falling. Something gives, and it is usually the part of the journey nobody can see: how quickly a person gets answered.
Can an AI agent take a complaint or a claim notification?
It can take the notification, on the record, in your firm's voice, and route it. It does not decide anything.
The part worth saying first: the work can leave, but the accountability does not. You remain the regulated firm. Any supplier suggesting an agent moves regulatory responsibility off your desk is describing something that does not exist.
What it will not do: advise, decide a claim, guess when the answer is not in its knowledge base, or make a judgement about vulnerability. That last one flags and goes to a person immediately.
Frequently asked questions
How many insurance complaints did the Financial Ombudsman receive in 2025/26?
45,330, against 45,529 the previous year, a fall of 0.4%. Our own total from the Ombudsman's published dataset, which does not publish an insurance total directly.
Why did overall FOS complaints fall by 30% in 2025/26?
Mainly because professional representatives fell from 50% of the caseload (152,800 cases) to 18% (38,600) after the referral fee came in, not because service improved.
Which insurance product has the highest uphold rate?
Of the major lines, commercial vehicle insurance at 43.8%, against an all-product average of 30%.
Are commercial insurance complaints going up?
Commercial property complaints rose 7.1% (1,582 to 1,695) while personal buildings complaints fell 12.6% (7,321 to 6,399). Commercial vehicle volume was flat while personal motor fell 4.7%.
What is the deadline for a final response to a complaint?
The end of eight weeks under DISP 1.6; 15 business days for payment services, or 35 in exceptional circumstances.
Does an AI agent reduce my FCA accountability?
No. The work can be handled by an agent; the regulatory accountability stays with the firm.
Sources
- All financial products 305,726 falling to 214,600, down almost 30%; uphold rate 34% to 30%; professional representatives 50% of caseload (152,800) falling to 18% (38,600). Financial Ombudsman Service, annual complaints data and insight 2025/26, published 21 May 2026: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/resolving-complaint/our-insight/annual-complaints-data-and-insight-2025-26
- Insurance totals 45,529 and 45,330; uphold rates 35.4%, 38.0%, 41.4% and 43.8%; commercial property 1,582 to 1,695; buildings 7,321 to 6,399; personal motor 14,082 to 13,420; commercial vehicle 1,423 to 1,429. Our own totals computed from the Financial Ombudsman Service's published primary datasets: Annual complaints data 2024-25 (xlsx) and Annual complaints data 2025-26 (xlsx)
- CP26/22, "Simplifying insurance rules", published 26 June 2026, closes 4 September 2026. Financial Conduct Authority: https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/consultation-papers/cp26-22-simplifying-insurance-rules
- "Commercial business has essentially been pulled into a framework originally designed for consumers", Jill Hambley, MD, UKGI Group. Insurance Business UK, 17 February 2026.
- Motor complaints up almost 12% year on year in Q1 2026 (3,519 against 3,145). Insurance DataLab, reported by Insurance Business UK, 2 July 2026.
- Average household claim £6,340 (highest on record, up 20%); average weather damage claim £6,040 (up 38% from £4,390); average combined buildings and contents premium £375, down 5%, fourth consecutive quarterly fall. Association of British Insurers, 2026: https://www.abi.org.uk/news/news-articles/2026/5/home-insurers-pay-out-846-million-to-support-households/
- Final response due by the end of eight weeks; 15 business days for payment services, 35 in exceptional circumstances. FCA Handbook DISP 1.6: https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/DISP/1/6.html
Our own arithmetic. The insurance totals and the line-of-business splits are our computations from the Ombudsman's published datasets. The Ombudsman does not publish an insurance total, so we summed the insurance rows. Both spreadsheets are linked above so you can reproduce the sum.
Correction. Our earlier material carried 45,606 insurance complaints for 2024/25. The dataset sums to 45,529. The components reconcile (motor 14,082, buildings 7,321), so the discrepancy sits in the total, most likely a different treatment of rows the Ombudsman suppresses when a figure is under ten. We use 45,529.
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