The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) have announced plans to reform the UK's financial services complaints system, following pressure from chancellor Rachel Reeves to prevent costly mass compensation events.

The proposed changes, revealed on Friday, include extending the time companies have to respond to customer complaints and limiting appeals against ombudsman decisions. The regulators plan to present detailed proposals in the first half of 2024.

The reform comes as the financial sector grapples with a surge in complaints over alleged car finance mis-selling, which has disrupted loan supplies and threatens to cost banks billions of pounds in compensation.

James Dipple-Johnstone, deputy chief ombudsman at the FOS, said: "We have seen how large volumes of complaints in particular areas can impact the effectiveness of the system. By further strengthening our work with the FCA and industry, we can identify and address these issues more promptly to ensure better outcomes for all."

The overhaul includes new fees for claims management companies, who will be charged £250 for each case they bring after their first ten annually, reduced to £75 if the ruling goes in their favour. Individual consumers will maintain free access to the service.

David Postings, head of UK Finance, welcomed the reforms, noting that the FOS has “the potential to cut across the remits and rules of other regulators, making the regulatory landscape more complex and costly [and] we have long called for this to be looked at.”

The changes form part of Reeves' broader push to ease regulatory burden on the City of London. In her Mansion House speech, she argued that post-2008 banking crisis rules had "gone too far" and were hampering growth and risk-taking.

The FOS has experienced a 50 per cent increase in consumer claims in the year to June, handling more than 200,000 cases annually from consumers whose complaints are rejected by financial services providers.

The regulators acknowledged it was "appropriate" for the FCA to provide its interpretation of rules to the FOS before decisions with wider implications, but warned that formal intervention powers could compromise the ombudsman's independence.

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