Login
ISCOVER
Almost 50 per cent of disputes accepted by the Financial Ombudsmen Service (FOS) in 2012/2013 were about credit products, with those concerning home loans most common.
Of all credit disputes accepted by the FOS, 89 per cent related to consumer credit, with home loans accounting for 38 per cent of these.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
After home loans, credit card disputes were the most prevalent type of dispute, with 35 per cent.
Overall, the FOS annual review showed a six per cent decline in credit disputes for the year, down by 834 disputes to 12,408.
The report revealed a six per cent decline is largely the result of a 22 per cent reduction in financial difficulty disputes.
FOS chief ombudsman Shane Tregillis said the decrease in financial difficulty disputes could be attributed to a couple of different things.
“This appears to be a result of the improvements by the major banks and other financial services providers to their financial hardship programs over the last few years, following the changes introduced under the 2010 National Credit Code,” he said.
Mr Tregellis also said many Australian borrowers have had a reduction in repayment pressures given the lower interest rates of the past few years, and this may have played a part in reducing the number of financial hardship disputes coming to FOS.
According to Mr Tregillis, the early resolution of disputes continued to be a key focus for FOS.
“Fifty-five per cent of all disputes were closed within 60 days, and 73 per cent within 120 days in 2012/2013," he said.
“We recognise there is still much work to be done to improve how quickly we resolve disputes and this will be a key focus of our efforts over the coming year,” he said.
