Complaints concerning life insurance and pension policies increased last year as more people made use of such products, said Caroline Gill, deputy financial services ombudsman.

Speaking before the publication of the Insurance Ombudsman's 12th and final annual report, Ms Gill said the body had received more complaints relating to life products in the 14 months to the end of March than it had concerning non-life products such as motor, home and travel insurance.

In the past the two categories have been split evenly, she said.

This is the group's final annual report as in April it merged with the Credit Institutions Ombudsman to become the Financial Services Ombudsman Bureau.

Since April, the new combined body has seen the number of complaints rise by 19 per cent, compared with the amount received by the two individual bodies in the same period last year.

According to Ms Gill, the increase can be attributed to an increased awareness of insurance products and the one-stop-shop nature of the combined body.

In its 12 years as a mediator in issues between personal policyholders and member insurance companies, the insurance ombudsman investigated 12,856 complaints and dealt with 76,257 telephone calls, according to the annual report.

The total cost of operating the service was €7.55 million over 12 years.

Under the new system, the maximum award increases to €250,000 from €160,000 and both parties have the right to appeal awards.