General manager Trevor Slater said it did receive complaints about financial advisers but they were at the lower end. “Most complaints are still against the small lenders and insurance companies are still providing us with a bit of work.”

He said most of the complaints about advisers related to replacement business, whether that was investment or insurance. “We do get complaints about advice to change to policies or investments that don’t provide the benefits that had been available previously.”

Commission clawback had also prompted concerns, he said. “Either insurance or mortgage brokers give advice to take a policy or product and then the person has to surrender it… we’ve had the odd complaint where the adviser has tried to claw back all the commission, which can be quite substantial.”

He said FSCL would look at the amount that we being clawed back in relation to the service provided. But he said if the number of complaints was compared to the number of transactions done by advisers, numbers were low.

The scheme has launched a programme called Give Us A Call, that aims to help solve issues before they turn into complaints. If a FSCL participant receives a complaint, they can contact FSCL and get advice on  how to resolve it before it became a dispute. The service is free.

Slater said advisers were already taking advantage of that.  “Financial advice is all about relationships. For most advisers, when they get a complaint they get on and fix it so it’s not escalating. Most advisers sit down with the client and address their concerns, talking through the problem and looking for a resolution.”