The Financial Ombudsman Service has said that between April and June 2024 it received more than 2,000 complaints about buildings insurance. It said this was 13% higher than the same quarterly period last year and added that 41% of complaints were upheld.

Sean Hamilton, ombudsman director in insurance at the Financial Ombudsman Service, said: “Buildings insurance complaints have been steadily on the rise for some time, but it is concerning to see this significant change in the number of unhappy consumers coming to our service in just a three-month period.

“We encourage the sector to take on board this insight and the reasons for which we are seeing cases, and to improve communications, transparency and timeliness.”

The top three reasons for policyholders complaining were claim decline (41%), claim delay (23%) and claim value (8%).