PPI claims drive surge in company complaints
More than 4m complaints were made to firms in the first half of this year, driven by a surge of payment protection insurance (PPI) claims.
The UK’s financial watchdog has reported 4.29m complaints for the first six months of 2019, rising from 3.91m during the second half of last year.
Read more: Banks struggle with PPI claims after deadline surge
The increase in complaints was mainly driven by a 34 per cent increase in the volume of PPI complaints received, from 1.58m to 2.12m, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
PPI complaints made up 49 per cent of all complaints received during the period, continuing to be the most complained about product.
When PPI is taken out, the figures today are the lowest volume of complaints firms have received since new reporting rules came into effect in 2016.
Excluding PPI complaints, the most complained about products remain current accounts (14 per cent of reported complaints), credit cards (eight per cent) and motor and transport insurance (six per cent).
Overall, excluding PPI, the average redress per complaint upheld increased from £175 to £200 between 2018 H2 and 2019 H1.
The figures come a day after the FCA said that customers who lodged complaints over the mis-selling of PPI may have to wait until next summer for a final response.
Britain’s competition watchdog has said it is challenging banks to deal with complaints as quickly as possible following a late surge of enquiries and complaints ahead of the August deadline.
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The last-minute flood of claims means that firms will now “not be able to meet their normal complaint handling times”, according to the FCA.
Several banks blamed an exceptionally high volume of traffic for the difficulties in the run-up to the deadline, which has brought down the curtain on a major financial scandal that involved banks and loan providers mis-selling policies to people who did not need them between 1990 and 2010.