Big jump in home loan complaints

The financial services industry ombudsman has seen a "dramatic increase" in complaints about home loans.

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority says complaints about home loans increased by 20 per cent in the second half of last year. The ombudsman received 2201 complaints about home loans over the six months.

AFCA chief operating officer Justin Untersteiner said the increase was due to "financial firms failing to respond to requests for assistance, the conversion of loans from interest-only to principal and interest, and issues with responsible lending".

Commonwealth Bank accounted for 818 of the home loan complaints received, with 402 resolved at registration and referral. When CBA subsidiary Bankwest is added the total is 978.

"Resolution at registration and referral" means the number of complaints closed after being referred by AFCA back to the firm.

ANZ had 659 home loan complaints about home loans, with 211 resolved at registration and referral. NAB had 639, with 280 resolved.

Westpac had 392, with 108 resolved. When Westpac subsidiaries St George, Rams, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA are added, the total for the group was 760 complaints.

Among the smaller banks, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank had 90 complaints about home loans, with 22 resolved at registration and referral.

ING Bank had 89 complaints, with 30 resolved, and Suncorp Bank also had 89 complaints, with 37 resolved.

Among specialist lenders, Pepper Finance Corp had 66 complaints, with 26 resolved at registration and referral.

Over the six months, the most complained about product was credit cards, with 2748 complaints.

The most complained about insurance product was home building insurance, with 1445 complaints.

The most complained about investment and advice products were derivatives and hedging, with 794 complaints.