While private medical insurance (PMI) complaints to the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) dropped 9.7% for the third quarter of the 2025 financial year, income protection grievances have continued to soar – up 22.4% year-on-year.
According to FOS data, the Ombudsman received 495 complaints about PMI or dental insurance (19% upheld) in Q3 2025. While this was the product category with the highest number of complaints across health and protection product categories, the number of complaints fell from 548 complaints (25% upheld) in Q3 2024.
For the same period of Q3 2023, there were 410 new complaints, but with an uphold rate of 29%.
When it came to income protection, 246 complaints (24% upheld) were received in the third quarter of the year, up from 201 new complaints, with an uphold rate of 23% in Q3 2024.
For the same period of Q3 2023, this product category saw 145 complaints, with an uphold rate of 21%.
Settled picture
The complaints picture was rather more settled however when it came to other protection insurance categories.
FOS received 211 term assurance complaints with less than 19% upheld in Q3 2025, up slightly from 209 new complaints, with an uphold rate of 22% in the corresponding period of 2024. That compared to 236 new complaints for Q3 2023, with an uphold rate of 18%.
It was a similar scenario with critical illness, with this product category receiving 149 complaints – 12% upheld in Q3 2025, up from 148 with an uphold rate of 21% in the same period of the previous year. That was about equal to Q3 2023, where there were 149 new complaints – but with an uphold rate of only 15%.
Overall complaints down year-on-year
Overall, the Ombudsman received 47,300 new complaints between October and December 2025.
This was higher than the 46,300 new complaints received in the previous quarter of the year.
But it was lower than the 68,400 complaints in the same period reported last year.
Across all financial products, the Ombudsman upheld 27% of the cases it resolved this quarter in favour of the consumer.
