LONDON, May 15 (Xinhua) -- British complaints on consumer credit products and services grew by 89 percent in the fiscal year 2018-2019, which ended on March 31, according to an annual review released Wednesday by a financial watchdog.
The number of complaints on banking and credit reached 149,933 in the year 2018 to 2019, accounting for 39 percent of overall new complaints, according to data provided by Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), a British watchdog for settling disputes between consumers and financial service providers.
Meanwhile, consumer complaints on credit products and services rose by 89 percent in the financial year, compared with the same period one year earlier, which included soaring complaints on payday loans, installment loans and guarantor loans, up 130 percent, 360 percent and 152 percent, respectively.
"The past 12 months have been our busiest for five years. People brought more than 388,000 complaints to our service -- up 14 percent on the year before," said Caroline Wayman, chief ombudsman and chief executive of FOS.
"One of the trends behind them is the rise in complaints about consumer credit products and services -- which grew by a further 89 percent, following last year's 40 percent increase," Wayman added.
She said leaving customers struggling with unsustainable debt was unacceptable, and that it was vital to not "allow history to repeat itself."
