CHL Mortgages has once again released its own complaints figures.
This move follows the recent publication of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) complaints data for the second half of 2013.
The specialist lender received 66 complaints during the last six months of the year, a fall on the 77 received in the first half of 2013. Quarter four complaints numbered 25, a fall from the 41 received in the previous quarter. Complaints for the full year therefore totalled just 143 which averages out at just under 12 per month.
CHL has also revealed that it received 22 decisions from FOS during the course of 2013 of which only three were partially upheld in the complainant’s favour.
During the course of quarter four eight new complaints were referred to FOS with overall 17 currently awaiting a decision. Of the six FOS decisions CHL received during the course of the final three months of the year all were upheld in the lender’s favour.
The latest FOS data shows a growth in the total number of complaints received during the course of 2013 – a trend CHL appears to buck – which were up 38% on 2012 to 576,000. 76% of all complaints received were with regard to payment protection insurance.
In CHL’s category, mortgages and home finance, the top three firms for new complaint cases received by the FOS during the second half of 2013 were Bank of Scotland (1,126), Santander UK plc (969), and Northern Rock (Asset Management) (493). The total percentage of all cases resolved in the consumer’s favour for this category was 30% although this was considerably higher for lenders such as Barclays Bank (46%), The Mortgage Business (37%) and Kensington Mortgage Company Ltd (36%).
CHL Mortgages does not appear in the official FOS statistics as the data released only covers financial businesses where the Ombudsman received 30 new cases and resolved at least 30 cases within the time period.
Bob Young (pictured), managing director of CHL Mortgages, said: “As is our normal practice, following the publication of the Ombudsman’s complaints data, CHL issues its own figures covering the same period as it ensures total transparency about the quality of our mortgage book and the way we handle complaints.
“We use our complaints data as a key performance indicator for the business and therefore it is pleasing to see the ongoing low level of complaints we receive and the fact that the vast majority of cases referred to FOS are upheld in our favour. Given the fact we have over 40,000 live mortgage accounts, to receive only 143 complaints during the course of the year and the fact that only three FOS-referred cases were partially upheld against us is another positive for CHL.
“There has been no single trend when it comes to the complaints we have received during the year however, as you might expect, some borrowers are not particularly happy when a receiver of rent is appointed. We also, like most businesses, continue to deal with speculative claims management companies chancing their arm often with regard to payment protection policies which we did not sell. CHL will continue to work hard at dealing with complaints and it is pleasing to see how we appear to be performing well against our lender peer group.
“Our aim as always is to keep the level of complaints moving downwards all the time and we put a great deal of effort and resource into ensuring strong communication lines between us and our customers, and developing a robust system where every complaint is taken seriously.”