Complaints about banks and insurers in Britain rose in the first half of 2017 with the figures still dominated by loan insurance as a compensation deadline for mis-selling is publicised, the Financial Ombudsman Service said on Tuesday. Complaints in January to June totalled 170,000, up 13 percent on the second half of 2016, with almost two thirds of the complaints relating to only 10 companies.
Payment protection insurance or PPI, totalled 90,000, with Lloyd's and its units topping the complaints table. Bank of Scotland, part of Lloyds was the subject of 20,541 complaints, with the 17,080 relating to PPI. Lloyds itself came second, with 18,068 complaints, 14,847 about PPI. Another Lloyds' unit, MBNA Limited, was 10th, with 4,368 complaints, most of which were about PPI. Lloyds Banking Group's Group Customer Service Director, Stephen Noakes, said the bank continued to prioritise putting things right as quickly as it can, with over seven in 10 complaints resolved within three days, excluding PPI.
"Where complaints are referred to the Ombudsman they agree with our decisions in the majority of cases," Noakes said. On a brighter note, Royal Bank of Scotland dropped out of the top 10 table for PPI complaints, with 1,361 new cases. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) kicked-off a publicity campaign last week featuring an animatronic head of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to highlight an August 2019 compensation deadline for mis-sold PPI policies.
Complaints about banking and credit have increased by 12 percent to around 47,000 in the first half of this year, and within this consumer credit complaints are up by almost a fifth to nearly 15,000. The data covers complaints from 245 companies across the financial sector, and most of the businesses named for the first time operate in consumer credit, a sector the Bank of England and FCA are examining more closely due to sharp growth rates.