Figures from the first quarter of 2016/17 (April – June 2016) by the Financial Ombudsman Services (FOS) have revealed that it received a total of 81,709 complaints.

Over half of the new cases it took on – 43,569 – were about Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) while complaints about packaged bank accounts (7,315) and current accounts (3,789) continued to dominate FOS’ workload.

In total, out of all the complaints received, FOS found in favour of consumers in 48% of cases.

Comparing the latest statistics with the same period in 2015/16, PPI complaints have fallen (49,377), as have those about packaged bank accounts (12,119).

But complaints about payday loans have risen 500%. During April to June 2016, FOS handled 2,729 complaints about payday loans, up from the 452 in Q2 a year earlier.

Tashema Jackson, money expert at uSwitch.com, said: “The eye-watering increase in payday loan complaints suggests that, despite the changes the regulator has made to the industry, many short-term lenders are still giving their customers cause for complaint.

“For people who have been turned away from traditional lenders, it’s simply not fair that they feel their only option is payday lenders who are failing to treat their customers fairly.”

Jackson added that if you feel you’ve been treated unfairly, you should complain to your provider and if it doesn’t sort out the issue, take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. For anyone trapped in a cycle of debt, you should speak to the charity StepChange about how it can help you.