PPI complaints dominate FCA data as clock ticks down to reclaim deadline

The total number of complaints reported by firms in the second half of 2016 was 3.04 million and the lion's share related to PPI, which accounted for 895,000 complaints and about £1.46 billion in redress.

The FCA's data comes just two months after stats produced by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) showed that more than 36,000 new PPI cases were brought to the ombudsman between October and December 2016 – amounting to 51% of the 70,900 product and service complaints in that quarter.

These latest figures show that PPI complaints continue to flood in, even as the FCA pushes ahead with the roll-out of a time-bar on PPI reclaiming, which is scheduled to come into force from 29 August 2019.

However, the financial regulator has recently been sent a formal letter kick-starting the legal process which could lead to a judicial review of the controversial deadline on PPI claims.

Check out our Reclaim PPI for Free guide for info on how to make a claim.

Current accounts the second most complained about product

Excluding PPI, the number of complaints recorded by the FCA in the second half of last year was 2.15 million. The other most complained about products were:

• Current accounts – the second most complained about product with around 514,000 complaints, making up 17% of all complaints, compared with 20% under the old reporting requirements in the first half of 2016.

• Credit cards – the third most complained about product with around 313,000 complaints, representing 10% of all complaints.

• Motor and transport insurance – new to the FCA's list and the fourth most complained about product with more than 220,000 complaints, representing 7% of all complaints.

• Packaged back accounts – also new to the FCA's list and the fifth most complained about product with just over 172,000 complaints, making up approximately 6% of all complaints.

Changes to reporting affect the number of complaints published

The total number of complaints recorded in H2 2016 (3.04 million) is higher than previous reporting periods because under the FCA’s new rules all complaints are now captured in the data.

The data also reflects 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, executive director of strategy and competition at the FCA, 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."