OFFICE OF FAIR
TRADING News Release (49/08) issued by The Government News Network
on 15 April 2008
The OFT will
tomorrow publish a report to measure the overall value of consumer
detriment in the UK economy, which estimates that the cost to UK
consumers over the last 12 months was around £6.6bn. Download a
copy of the report from the OFT website - http://www.oft.gov.uk.
'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.
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 1000 consumers interviewed, 542 problems were identified,
and 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 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. However,
only 64 per cent of respondents complained or took action to
rectify their problem, 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%
in products or services over £1000), than from more frequent
problems that were less costly (0.3% 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.
John Fingleton, OFT Chief Executive said:
'Only five per cent of people in the UK report their
complaint through channels such as Trading Standards and Consumer
Direct. This research is crucial in improving our understanding of
problems we do not always see or hear about. 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.'
NOTES
1. Consumers wanting to complain about a product or a service
should call Consumer Direct for clear, practical consumer advice
on 08454 04 05 06 or http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk.
http://www.oft.gov.uk
PUBLIC enquiries: 0845 7224499 enquiries@oft.gov.uk
OFT
reports and consumer information leaflets are available free
from:
OFT, PO Box 366, Hayes UB3 1XB 0800 389 3158 oft@ecgroup.uk.com