The Australian Financial Complaints Authority is heading for its busiest year on record. Speaking at the Claims Leaders Summit in Sydney on 12 May, AFCA’s Chief Customer Officer Deborah Jenkins warned that first-quarter 2026 complaint volumes (exceeding 30,000 across all financial products) put the full year on track to surpass 120,000 complaints. That would represent a 20% increase on the record 100,000 complaints recorded in 2025.
For the insurance sector specifically, the numbers are stark. General insurance complaints rose 17% to 34,231 in 2024-25, driven primarily by claims delays, denial of claims, and disputes over claim amounts. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, claims-related complaints jumped 38% on the same period last year. Jenkins attributed the surge to the compounding effects of natural disasters, supply chain disruptions, and financial stress among policyholders.
The picture for insurance brokers tells a different story. According to NIBA’s analysis of the latest AFCA Datacube data, broker complaints remain below 1% of the total financial complaints system, a figure that reflects the profession’s track record in managing client outcomes, even as pressure elsewhere in the market intensifies.
Jenkins encouraged insurers and licensees to focus on the fundamentals: proactive communication, transparency in decision-making, and timely responses. Around 45% of claims complaints returned to insurers for internal dispute resolution are resolved without requiring an AFCA determination, a reminder that strong internal processes remain the first line of defence.
For brokers, the commercial stakes are clear. As insurer complaint volumes climb and ASIC’s scrutiny of internal dispute resolution obligations tightens following recent Federal Court action against a major superannuation entity, client communication and claims advocacy have never been more commercially important.
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