The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has announced that a year into the pandemic it has received more than 11,000 complaints related to COVID-19 — less than it originally thought.
Releasing the figures along with its latest half-year statistics, AFCA said there had been a 23 per cent jump in the monthly average of complaints about unauthorised transactions and scams in the six months to 31 December.
Its data also showed that between 3 March last year and 28 February this year there were 11,482 COVID-related complaints about financial products or services.
That was 15 per cent — or one in seven — of all complaints over that March-to-February period.
Chief Operating Officer at AFCA, Justin Untersteiner said this was fewer complaints than the Agency thought might arise from the pandemic.
“Banks were quick to respond, providing emergency support as they handled unprecedented numbers of requests for repayment deferrals. Superannuation funds worked with us to resolve consumer concerns about early access to super funds,” Mr Untersteiner said.
“Government financial support measures also played a vital role.”
He said the bulk of COVID-related complaints (65 per cent) came through in the first six months from March last year, as consumers and firms came to grips with its impacts.
“There was then a trend downwards as financial firms fine-tuned their responses, activities like travel reduced and the economy steadied,” Mr Untersteiner said.
He said that one year on, AFCA had been able to resolve nearly 90 per cent of the COVID-related complaints — in the vast majority of cases by helping individual complainants and financial firms reach agreement.
“Among COVID-associated complaints, travel insurance was the most complained about product type, with 3,516 complaints across a year of the pandemic, though the rate fell sharply as travel reduced,” he said.
“However, there was a 23 per cent jump in the monthly average for complaints related to unauthorised transactions and financial scams in the second half of 2020.”
Mr Untersteiner said his sense was that scammers stepped up their activity to take advantage of people spending more time at home and feeling financially vulnerable.
“It’s not just the volume of complaints about scams that’s increasing but also the sums involved. Some complaints involved scammed amounts topping $1 million,” the Chief Operating Officer said.
