What credit card complaints tell us about common problems
Financial Ombudsman annual complaints data · Financial year 2025/26
If you are unhappy with a credit card provider, knowing how to explain the problem can be more useful than knowing how many other people complained. The Ombudsman’s annual figures give some context, but your own evidence is what matters for your case.
What the annual figures show
The Financial Ombudsman Service recorded around 22,800 credit card complaints in 2025/26. About 8,800 concerned perceived irresponsible or unaffordable lending, compared with 49,400 of that type the previous year.
The service also describes a wider fall in cases brought by professional representatives after it introduced charges for those representatives. That change is relevant context when reading the totals, not proof that lending problems disappeared.
A complaint received is not a complaint upheld
The number of new complaints is not a count of proven mistakes. A case can be investigated and rejected, upheld or resolved in another way. Nor does a fall in referrals tell us, by itself, that every provider improved.
These figures do not rank individual card companies or predict whether your own complaint will succeed. Avoid choosing a provider—or abandoning a complaint—on that basis alone.
Write down the problem before the argument
Start with a short timeline: what happened, when you noticed it, what you asked the provider to do and what response you received. Then say what you believe needs putting right.
For an illustrative disputed fee, that might mean listing the payment date, confirmation reference and date the fee appeared. For a complaint about affordability, the relevant account and financial history will be different. Keep the explanation tied to the actual issue rather than adding every frustration with the company.
Give the provider the opportunity to respond
Complain to the financial business first. For most complaints, it has eight weeks to respond, although some payment-services complaints have shorter deadlines. The Ombudsman normally needs to receive a referral within six months of the business’s final response; other time limits can also apply.
Use the deadline information in the response and contact the Ombudsman promptly if you are unsure. You can approach it yourself without paying a representative.
Sources & further reading
Sources checked on 3 November 2026. Examples are illustrative unless identified as reported figures or a provider’s terms. General information, not personal financial advice.