Published decisions
2,391
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%
568 upheld decisions
Page summary
2,391 published FOS decisions in 2026, including upheld-rate context, top firms, top products, recurring complaint themes, and representative cases.
Published decisions
2,391
2026 decision volume in the public corpus
Upheld rate
23.8%
568 upheld decisions
Latest published decision 17 Mar 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
2,391
2026 decision volume in the public corpus
Upheld rate
23.8%
568 upheld decisions
Leading product
Banking and Payments
40.8% of annual decisions
Leading firm
Shawbrook Bank Limited
137 published decisions
What stood out in 2026
Analysis2,391 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 975 decisions. Shawbrook Bank Limited appeared most often at firm level. The most frequently tagged complaint theme was delay in claim handling.
- Banking and Payments: 975 decisions
- Shawbrook Bank Limited: 137 decisions
- Delay In Claim Handling: 812 tagged decisions
- 2026 versus 2025: down 92.5% 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 40.8% of all decisions published in 2026, which makes it the clearest lens for understanding how complaint pressure expressed itself that year.
- Banking and Payments: 975 decisions, 21.1% upheld
- Consumer Credit: 700 decisions, 16.7% upheld
- Insurance: 523 decisions, 31.9% upheld
- Investments: 69 decisions, 30.4% upheld
- Mortgages: 63 decisions, 34.9% upheld
Firm and complaint-theme signals
AnalysisShawbrook Bank Limited, Barclays Bank UK PLC, HSBC UK Bank Plc, 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, affordability assessment failure, fraud or scam concern, 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-508790517 Mar 2026Upheld
Astute Private Wealth Limited · Investments
For the reasons I’ve explained, I think a reasonable resolution to this complaint has already been proposed and agreed by the business. To resolve matters, Astute Private Wealth Limited should pay Miss S £200 for the trouble and upset caused, if it has not already done so.
View source decisionDRN-530808117 Mar 2026Not upheld
Westerby Trustee Services Limited · Pensions and Annuities
For the above reasons, I’m not asking Westerby Trustee Services Limited to do anything. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr L to accept or reject my decision before 14 April 2026.
View source decisionDRN-550109617 Mar 2026Not upheld
Zurich Assurance Ltd · Insurance
I don’t uphold Mrs P’s complaint about Zurich Assurance Ltd. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mrs P to accept or reject my decision before 14 April 2026.
View source decisionDRN-558715017 Mar 2026Not upheld
Monzo Bank Ltd · Banking and Payments
I’ve decided not to uphold Miss B’s complaint about Monzo Bank Ltd. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Miss B to accept or reject my decision before 14 April 2026.
View source decisionDRN-564345517 Mar 2026Not upheld
Edinburgh Alternative Finance Limited · Banking and Payments
I don’t uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr S to accept or reject my decision before 14 April 2026.
View source decision