17 October 2012 6:56am

Almost half the disputes over financial hardship considered by the Financial Ombudsman Service in the past financial year arose because the lender did not respond to requests by a borrower to consider newly straitened circumstances.

Philip Field, the lead ombudsman for banking and finance, told the FOS annual conference in Melbourne yesterday that 44 per cent of hardship disputes fell into this category.

Disputes over credit increased 26 per cent over the year to June 2012. They represent almost half of all disputes handled by the service.

Philip Field, lead ombudsman...