Susan Taylor, chief executive of Financial Services Complaints Limited, said people with legitimate complaints about their financial services providers were missing out on the chance to have a fair hearing because they did not realise the option was there.

"Many New Zealanders are unaware they can seek free and independent help with problems they have with their financial services provider. Even among professionals such as solicitors and accountants, understanding of the role and powers of the financial services dispute resolution schemes remains low."

Institute of Financial Advisers president Nigel Tate said he would be disappointed if financial advisers were not making it clear to clients that disputes schemes were available to them.

He said it was possible that registered, not authorised, advisers were not providing full disclosure to their clients.

“They don’t have the same degree of disclosure. There could be an element not making it clear. It would disappoint me if that were the case.”

But Professional Advisers Association spokeswoman Jenny Campbell said all advisers, registered or authorised, must include in their disclosure statements information about the scheme they were registered with.

She said her organisation had done a lot of work with advisers on how complaints could be turned into positive outcomes. “It’s a chance to make amends and fix problems. If you’re proactive, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to have a complaint.”

She said the Financial Markets Authority wanted to see advisers’ complaints logs, even if the complaints were not serious.

FSCL has 5500 members and received 744 enquiries or complaints in the six months to the end of December.

Of the cases it resolved, about 42% were complaints against insurance companies. Complaints against lenders and finance companies made up about 16%