FCA: financial services complaints drop 1.4%

The change was mainly driven by a 10% drop in complaints about current accounts and a 15% drop in complaints about savings accounts.

When PPI is excluded, the number of complaints is reduced to 1.17 million. PPI complaints rose by 6%, and although current accounts saw one of the largest reductions in complaints numbers, they remained the second most complained about financial product.

The total redress paid to consumers fell to £1.97 billion - slightly lower than the £1.98 billion paid in H1 - largely due to a 2% fall in payments related to general insurance and pure protection products.

The top five most complained about firms all saw a reduction in complaints received in H2:

- Barclays Bank Plc – 279,561 (-1%)
- Lloyds Bank Plc – 230,041 (-1%)
- Bank of Scotland Plc – 182,702 (-4% )
- National Westminster Bank Plc – 135,262 (-7%)
- HSBC Bank Plc – 120,986 (-14%)

For mortgages and equity release products, Bank of Scotland received the most complaints (11,606) followed by Santander (7,331) and HSBC (6,296).

Lloyds topped the list for general insurance and pure protection (including PPI) with 152,149 complaints, followed closely by Barclays and Bank of Scotland.

For Decumulation, Life and Pensions, The Prudential Assurance Company received 8,063 complaints, Friends Life saw 5,496, and Royal London came third with 4,530.

Christopher Woolard, Director of Strategy and Competition said:

“It is positive to see that the longer term reduction in the volume of complaints has continued into the latest period. Firms seem to have taken on board our previous feedback on levels of complaints and we are slowly seeing firms address these issues.

“However, firms still need to do all they can to reduce complaints and ensure that they are working in the best interests of consumers.”