Complaints Over Financial Firms' Services Soar 21%

By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter

Complaints filed to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) soared in the first quarter as investors sustained huge losses amid the global financial market turmoil.

According to the regulator, the number of petitions, including consumer complaints and requests for consultation, totaled 98,868 in the first quarter of this year, up 20.7 percent from a year ago.

Among them, complaints about financial companies totaled 20,623 while those seeking financial consultation totaled 68,841. The rest were inquiries about inheritances.

Consultations regarding securities soared 53.7 percent, reflecting the huge losses sustained in investment funds.

``Many investors are pleading over the fact that they were not adequately warned by banks and securities companies about the risks when they purchased fund products. They are complaining because they sustained huge losses after investing in high-risk products following the global financial crisis,'' the regulator explained.

One fund investor sought grievance mediation with the financial regulator after sustaining a 66-million won loss. According to the investor, an employee of a securities company guaranteed him that the fund investment would not incur a loss. The mediation committee at the regulator ruled that the securities company should compensate the investor for 60 percent of the loss.

Consultation over debt at banks grew by 57.1 percent, and those related to credit cards soared by 70 percent. Some chose to file complaints over bank debt, with such complaints growing by 141.4 percent. Most complained about interest rate hikes.

Complaints about financial companies grew by 27.3 percent. Among them, 10,111 were about insurance ― up 23.8 percent from a year ago. There were 755 complaints about payment of insurance money in the first quarter of this year, up 52.5 percent from the same period of last year. The regulator explained that an increasing number of people are requesting that insurers give them back their insurance premiums, because they are having trouble making ends meet due to the economic recession.

chizpizza@koreatimes.co.kr