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More than three million complaints made in first half of 2017

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
23/10/2017

Payment protection insurance (PPI) continues to account for the largest number of complaints made in the first half of the year, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The regulator, the FCA, said PPI remained the most complained about single issue, making up a third (1.11 million) of all complaints received in the first six months of the year. Excluding PPI, the total number of complaints received stood at 2.21 million.

The total redress paid to consumers was £1.99bn in the first half of 2017, making up 82% of the total redress payments made over the period.

In terms of the type of activity that consumers complained about, the biggest problem was with “advising, selling and arranging.” These activities accounted for 43% of all complaints made in the first half of the year. This was down on the 59% recorded for the first six months in 2016.

Elsewhere, “general administration and customer service” accounted for 38% of all complaints. This was up on the 27% recorded for the same period last year.

Since June 2016, firms have been required to report data in a new way. The FCA said this had increased the number of complaints reported and meant making direct comparisons was problematic.

Christopher Woolard, executive director of strategy and competition, said: “We now require firms to report all complaints which gives us a fuller picture of where the industry might not be meeting customer needs.”

“But even allowing for the change in reporting rules, and some progress made, the numbers are still significant. Firms need to do all they can to reduce complaints and ensure that they are working in the best interests of consumers.”