Complaints about pet and livestock insurance products have surged by more than a quarter over the last 12 months, after the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) received almost 600 complaints about the business line in the first three months of 2025.
This is up by 26% on the same quarter in 2024 when the ombudsman received less than 475 pet-related complaints – marking the biggest increase in complaints referred to the ombudsman over the last 12 months.
This means that pet and livestock insurance is now the fourth-most complained about business line in UKGI, with complaints having grown by more than 146% over the last five years.
Pet and livestock insurance also reported the highest uphold rate of any business line, with 52% of complaints in this area being upheld in favour of the customer – up 19 percentage points from the same quarter in 2024.
The Trouble With Travel
Travel insurance saw a sharp rise in complaints referred to the ombudsman, with more than 1,000 complaints over the period – an increase of 6% on the previous year – and an upheld rate of 37%.
It is important to note, however, that a lot of this increase in travel-related complaints is attributable to just one provider. Complaints about this firm have more than doubled over the last year, with some 47% upheld in favour of the customer – this is 10 percentage points ahead of the market aggregate for travel insurance products.
Indeed, this provider alone was responsible for nearly 30% of all travel-related complaints referred to the FOS over the last 12 months.
Car and motorcycle insurance remains the most complained about business line overall, although the total number of new cases fell by some 27% to a little under 3,150 for Q1 2025, down from 4,325 a year earlier.
The business line now accounts for some 30.8% of total complaints referred to the FOS, down from 39.6% for the same period in 2024. The upheld rate has also improved, dropping by three percentage points to 38%, broadly in line with the market average across all business lines.
Meanwhile, buildings insurance is the second most complained about business line with 1,725 complaints in the first three months of 2025, followed by travel insurance (1,050), pet and livestock insurance (600) and private medical/dental insurance (475).
Insurance DataLab’s exclusive analysis of FOS complaints data also investigated the type of complaints being referred, with claims-related complaints accounting for more than 70% of FOS referrals over the last 12 months.
Indeed, claims-related complaints dominate across all of the most complained about business lines, but there are signs that dissatisfaction is broadening.
In pet and livestock insurance, for example, complaints about sales and advice made up a growing proportion of the overall caseload, with volumes growing by 73% year-on-year. These complaints now account for almost a fifth of all cases referred to the ombudsman about this product line, up from 14% in Q1 2024.
Understanding What Drives FOS Complaints is Key to Smarter Compliance and Fair Value Delivery
As insurers respond to the demands of Consumer Duty, understanding complaint trends is more important than ever.
Insurance DataLab’s market intelligence platform enables you to analyse Financial Ombudsman Service complaints on a quarterly basis by business line, complaint type, and provider – helping you benchmark performance, monitor customer outcomes, and support regulatory reporting.
As the FCA recently highlighted, benchmarking plays a vital role in demonstrating fair value and good customer outcomes. Find out how Insurance DataLab can help with compliance and request a free demo today.
Note: All complaints volumes are rounded to the nearest 25 complaints.