Published decisions
6,900
2026 decision volume in the public corpus
Year analysis
2026 complaint and ombudsman analysis
Detailed public analysis of the 2026 published Financial Ombudsman decision set, including complaint volume, outcome mix, product concentration, firm exposure, and recurring complaint themes.
Upheld rate
23.8%
1,643 upheld decisions
Page summary
6,900 published FOS decisions in 2026, including upheld-rate context, top firms, top products, recurring complaint themes, and representative cases.
Published decisions
6,900
2026 decision volume in the public corpus
Upheld rate
23.8%
1,643 upheld decisions
Latest published decision 15 Sept 2026
How to use this page
Read the metrics first, then the ranked view.
The top-line cards show scale and outcome context. The ranked view and representative decisions show where the slice is concentrated and what the published decision set actually looks like.
Published decisions
6,900
2026 decision volume in the public corpus
Upheld rate
23.8%
1,643 upheld decisions
Leading product
Banking and Payments
42.2% of annual decisions
Leading firm
Barclays Bank UK PLC
350 published decisions
What stood out in 2026
Analysis6,900 published ombudsman decisions landed in 2026. 23.8% of those decisions were upheld, while 76.2% were not upheld. That makes 2026 a meaningful benchmark year for understanding where complaint pressure and adjudication risk sat across the corpus.
Banking and Payments was the heaviest product area, accounting for 2,914 decisions. Barclays Bank UK PLC appeared most often at firm level. The most frequently tagged complaint theme was delay in claim handling.
- Banking and Payments: 2,914 decisions
- Barclays Bank UK PLC: 350 decisions
- Delay In Claim Handling: 2,167 tagged decisions
- 2026 versus 2025: down 78.3% year on year
Product mix and concentration
AnalysisThe year was led by Banking and Payments, Consumer Credit, Insurance, and others, which together represented the centre of complaint activity in the published decisions for 2026.
Banking and Payments alone contributed 42.2% of all decisions published in 2026, which makes it the clearest lens for understanding how complaint pressure expressed itself that year.
- Banking and Payments: 2,914 decisions, 18.9% upheld
- Consumer Credit: 1,835 decisions, 22.1% upheld
- Insurance: 1,554 decisions, 30.8% upheld
- Investments: 225 decisions, 26.2% upheld
- Mortgages: 192 decisions, 34.9% upheld
Firm and complaint-theme signals
AnalysisBarclays Bank UK PLC, HSBC UK Bank Plc, Revolut Ltd, and others were the most visible firms in the published decisions for 2026. That does not prove complaint prevalence in a consumer-market sense, but it does show which firms were most exposed in the final ombudsman decisions dataset.
Complaint-theme tagging pointed most strongly to delay in claim handling, fraud or scam concern, affordability assessment failure, and others. These themes are the most useful public proxy for “complaint type” in this corpus because the raw decisions are not stored with a dedicated complaint-type field.
- Most frequent precedent signal: Consumer Credit Act 1974
- Second precedent signal: Section 140a Cca
- Primary complaint theme: Delay In Claim Handling
Representative cases
Recent published decisions in this slice
5 examples shown
DRN-645099715 Sept 2026Not upheld
Wise Payments Limited · Banking and Payments
For the reasons set out above, I don’t uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask C to accept or reject my decision before 11 September 2026.
View source decisionDRN-612671625 Aug 2026Not upheld
Santander UK Plc · Banking and Payments
For the reasons I have given it is my final decision that the complaint is not upheld. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask X to accept or reject my decision before 22 September 2026.
View source decisionDRN-616036725 Aug 2026Not upheld
Creation Consumer Finance Limited · Consumer Credit
My final decision is that I do not uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mrs S to accept or reject my decision before 22 September 2026.
View source decisionDRN-616470525 Aug 2026Upheld
Wesleyan Assurance Society · Insurance
For the reasons I’ve explained, I’m satisfied that the offer now made to resolve this complaint is fair and reasonable. To put things right, Wesleyan Assurance Society must pay Ms D a total of £450 to address the distress caused.
View source decisionDRN-619893125 Aug 2026Upheld
Metro Bank PLC · Banking and Payments
For the reasons I’ve explained I uphold this complaint and if it hasn’t already done so, I direct Metro Bank PLC to put things right by doing the following: • Pay Mrs A £150 compensation for the trouble and upset caused by its poor level of communication. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mrs A to accept or reject my decision before 22 September 2026.
View source decision