The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is investigating why disputes related to general insurance grew 21% in the first quarter of this year.

The figure compares with 15% for all FOS services in the first quarter compared with the previous three months.

The latest statistics show more than 8600 disputes involving all FOS services ­– general insurance, life insurance, banking and investments – were received in the quarter, 4% more than the corresponding period last year.

FOS says such figures are always volatile, and can be influenced by changes to one particular sector. “Over the past quarter, for instance, general insurance disputes received went up 21% and we are looking into factors that could have influenced this rise.”

FOS has previously admitted to insuranceNEWS.com.au there is a backlog of general insurance complaints.

Some 2709 general insurance disputes were received during the quarter, accounting for 31.3% of the total.