The total number of new complaints to the UK's Financial Ombudsman Service has risen from 339,967 in 2017/18 to 388,392 this year - a rise of 14%. Meanwhile, the total number of enquiries has topped 1.6 million - the highest in four years.

The figures come from the service's latest report about the last year's enquiries. The year 2018/19 saw the FOS receive 1,680,394 enquiries (633,261 by letter and slightly over a million by email), which is the highest figure since that of 2014/15, which saw 1,786,973 enquiries.

A declining number of enquiries were about payment protection insurance or PPI. The figure for 2017/18 was 45% of all enquiries, whereas that of 2018/19 was 39%. Current accounts remained steady on 9%, credit cards remained steady on 3%, mortgages remained steady on 2% and pension products remained steady on 1%.

When the FOS analysed the things that the new investments and pensions complaints were about, it found that pensions accounted for 42% in 2017/18 and 48% in 2018/19. Packaged investment products accounted for 19% in the former year and 18% in the latter; portfolio management for 6% and 5%; derivatives for 3% and 2%; and stockbroking for 7%.

On the subject of pensions, new complaints about self-invested pension plans or SIPPs had risen a staggering 86% in one year; personal pension plans had risen 7%; occupational pension transfers/opt-out had risen a hefty 44%; annuities had dropped by 18%; and income draw-down had risen by a hefty 45%.

Complaints about credit cards (as opposed to enquiries, mentioned above) had risen by 26% and complaints about current accounts had risen by 27%.

A FOS press release says: "Over 12,000 complaints about fraud and scams were received in the last financial year, an increase of more than 40% on the year before. Fraud and scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, as people can access their banking through more channels and technology than ever before.

"The ombudsman service has published details of Authorised Push Payment (APP) complaints they have been dealing with, ahead of the introduction of a new voluntary code designed to protect victims of APP fraud. This is is one of the fastest-growing types of fraud, where people unwittingly act on fraudsters’ instructions and carry out the transactions themselves. The new code, which comes into force at the end of May 2019, will provide a mechanism for many victims of APP fraud to get their money back."