A REPORT by the Financial Services Ombudsman says the number of complaints received by his office has increased 28% over the past year.
Bill Prasifika, the Ombudsman said 7,619 complaints were made to his office last year. 4,668 complaints were made against insurance companies while 2,951 complaints were made against financial institutions.
Over 200,000 visits were made to the Ombudsman’s office on Lincoln Place and some 17,000 phone calls were also received.
The Ombudsman said that he estimates that ‘conservatively’ over €60m has been made good to consumers as a result of the office’s work since 2005.
Prasifika noted that because of the economic downturn, some firms are unable to pay awards made by the Ombudsman.
The Office is funded by levies on financial institutions and its running costs came to €5m last year.
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