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The figures were revealed in a report by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to measure the overall value of consumer detriment in the UK economy.

'Consumer detriment' refers to any instance where a customer suffers as a result of their dealings with an organisation, partly or wholly as a result of the organisation accidentally or deliberately treating the customer unfairly.

Insurance sector 

The report, which was compiled using information from 10,000 consumers, was commissioned to establish where consumers were suffering the most harm through poor products and services.

For every 1,000 consumers interviewed, 542 problems were identified. Across the whole of the UK population this equates to an estimated 26.5 million problems over the last year.

The report found that on average, the highest level of financial detriment occurred in the insurance sector, followed by home maintenance and improvements, and personal banking.

The report also concluded that the goods or services which consumers reported the highest proportion of problems were telecommunications, domestic fuel, and personal banking.

Less numerous and more costly 

Only 64 per cent of respondents complained or took action to rectify their problem, however, and this was higher for problems occurring in the insurance, personal banking, internet and domestic fuel sectors but lower in the small domestic appliances, medical goods and services and postal services.

One important finding was that there was more detriment to consumers where problems were less numerous and more costly (79 per cent in products or services over £1,000), than from more frequent problems that were less costly (0.3 per cent where the product or service was less than £5).

The findings of the report will now be analysed and used to help the OFT prioritise future work.

Consumer confidence 

John Fingleton, OFT chief executive, said that only five per cent of people in the UK report their complaint through channels such as Trading Standards and Consumer Direct.

He called the research crucial in improving the OFT’s understanding of problems it does not always see or hear about.

Fingleton explained that consumer confidence in markets is important to making markets work well and maintaining a strong and growing economy.

“Understanding where consumers are experiencing the most problems and incurring the greatest losses will help us to set priorities efficiently and focus the work of the OFT on markets that are not working well,” he concluded.

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Related links

• Office of Fair Trading
• Consumer Direct
• Consumer Detriment (full report)