Financial Ombudsman records rise in P2P enquiries

The number of enquiries to the Financial Ombudsman relating to peer-to-peer lending platforms tripled during the second quarter of 2020, reflecting a rise across all products.

Ombudsman data showed it received 44 enquiries regarding P2P lending, up from 16 in the first quarter of 2020.

The number of P2P lending cases rose slightly from 40 in the first quarter of 2020 to 42 in the second quarter, but fewer than 10 ended up requiring an ombudsman decision, instead being mediated through an adjudicator.

P2P lending made up just 0.03 per cent of the 119,214 consumer enquiries that the Ombudsman received.

This was up 10 per cent on the first quarter but down 36 per cent annually.

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The number of new complaints across all financial products rose by 19 per cent during the quarter to 68,735 and was up 20 per cent compared with last year.

There were also 17 per cent more referrals to an ombudsman at 9,204 since the first quarter of 2020 but this was down 21 per cent compared with the second quarter of 2019.

The uphold rate for all complaints remained at 32 per cent.

Payment protection insurance remained the most complained about product but the highest uphold rate was for guarantor loans at 88 per cent.

The Ombudsman also highlighted an increase in complaints from small- and medium-sized enterprises regarding the government’s emergency lending schemes.

There were 391 new complaints during the quarter, up 201 per cent compared with the first three months of the year and 178 per cent annually.

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