The British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published today its recent complaints data for the first half of 2018. The complaints volume increased by 10 percent to a total of 4.13 million complaints compared to the previous six months.
These are the key insights:
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The complaints figures show an upward trend for the fourth half year in a row. The majority of complaints (98 percent) was made about a comparatively small fraction of 235 firms – out of a total of 3,161 firms.
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Payment protection insurance (PPI) continues to be the product most complained about – which accounts for 42 percent of all complaints. Further products that consumers complained about frequently are current accounts (15 percent), credit cards (8 percent) and motor and transport insurance (6 percent).
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Without accounting for PPI, complaints rose by 9 percent, i.e. 193,360 complaints, compared to the previous six months. This increase in complaints to certain firms is due to various serious disruptions in retail banking services in the first half of 2018.
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With 58 percent, the share of non-PPI complaints, which were resolved by firms within three business days, has slightly decreased compared to 59 percent in the previous six months.
Christopher Woolard, Executive Director of Strategy and Competition, noted: “Firms need to be doing all that they can to reduce complaints. It is clear that firms need to look at the cause of the rise in complaints and address these issues to prevent further increases. It should be a priority for firms to ensure good consumer outcomes are achieved and they should be making sure that they are taking the right steps to treat customers fairly. We are encouraged to see that figures are showing that more consumers are making a decision on whether to complain about PPI.”
Source: FCA
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