Last year, in the same period, customers made 56,690 complaints to the free dispute resolution service.
Banking and credit services was the most complained-about sector for the first half of the year and the only one that represented a rise on last year.
The FOS noted this was largely due to a spike of disputes about credit cards, unaffordable lending, car finance and fraud.
Over half of those disputes were raised by professional representatives like claims management companies, compared to just a quarter that occurred during the same period in 2023.
Between 1 January and 30 July 2024, the FOS received 133,019 complaints – a rise of 40% on 2023, when the service received 93,114.
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More businesses were also complained about in that spell, with 242 disputed against, an increase from 220 the year before.
Vanquis Bank was the most complained-about firm in the opening six months of the year, representing 16,067 new disputes received by the FOS.
A Vanquis spokesperson told YourMoney.com: “These figures are driven by significant levels of complaint submissions by claims management companies, many of which are speculative. Vanquis is committed to addressing genuine customer concerns.”
In second place was credit provider NewDay Ltd, with customers making 5,717 new complaints to the service.
For the six-month period, there was a slight dip in the number of complaints upheld (35%) in the customer’s favour compared to last year (37%).
Meanwhile, mortgage and home finance complaints slightly dropped to 3,685 and investment complaints fell from 2,593 to 2,305.
The latest figures from the service follow the 70% increase in complaints received in the first quarter of 2024.
Consumers being at heart of businesses ‘not always the case’
Abby Thomas, chief executive and chief ombudsman at the FOS, said: “Businesses should put consumers at the heart of their service, but the high level of complaints we receive shows that’s not always the case.
“It’s vital that businesses are open and transparent with their customers, treating them with fairness and understanding.”
Thomas added: “Whilst professional representatives have an important role to play, they must ensure that their cases are well-evidenced and have merit.
“If people don’t feel they’ve been treated fairly by their financial provider, they can come directly to our service and we’ll see if we can help. Getting a fair answer is free and easy.”
