Payment protection insurance (PPI) is the most complained about product, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has revealed as it published data on the number of complaints reported by firms under new rules which came into force on 30 June 2016.
The total number of PPI complaints was 895,000. Excluding PPI, the number of complaints was 2.15 million. Current accounts were the next most complained about product with around 514,000.
The total redress paid to consumers was £1.9 billion in the second half of 2016. When all redress payments related to PPI are excluded, the redress figure is approximately £0.3 billion during the same time period.
The total number of complaints reported by firms in the second half of 2016 was 3.04 million. This number is higher than previous reporting periods because under the FCA’s new rules all complaints are now captured in the data.
The data reflect the fact that under the new rules, financial services firms have longer to resolve complaints less formally. Firms now have three days to address a complaint to a consumer’s satisfaction, this is up from the previous next business day time limit.
Christopher Woolard (pictured), executive director of strategy and competition, said: “Consumers want a simple way to complain that does not leave them out of pocket. And they want to be assured that their concerns will be dealt with fairly and quickly.
“These data will provide us with improved intelligence on complaints including new detailed data to show where industry is potentially failing consumers at product level.”