General insurance complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) continue to decline after a spike following the 2011 floods.

Disputes fell 9% to 2065 in the June quarter, although the industry remains the second-largest source of cases, accounting for 26%, with credit matters on 49%.

FOS’ latest circular says the service aims to clear its backlog by January and will release details about new dispute processes next month or in October.

In total, the service received 8027 disputes in the quarter, down 3%, and it registered 3502 – recording basic details and referring them to the provider to see if it can resolve the matter directly with the consumer – a rise of 4%.

By the end of the quarter, providers had resolved 28% of disputes, while 26% had escalated to the next stage of the process.

FOS closed 8498 disputes, down 2%. Of these, providers resolved more than 55%. FOS made decisions in favour of applicants in 4% and backed providers in 6%. About 14.5% were outside FOS’ jurisdiction and another 7.5% were discontinued.

More than 2% were resolved through conciliation, 2.7% by a FOS assessment and 7% by negotiation.