PPI-related complaints against United Kingdom banks falling

A few 506,326 complaints into current accounts were recorded, marking a 31.2% increase compared with the previous six months.

The regulator received 73,055 complaints relating to decumulation, life and pension products, a rise of 19.7% compared to the last six months of 2014.

Despite the decline, the bailed-out lender was the second most complained-about bank in the first half of the year following FTSE 100 peer Barclays (LON:BARC) where complaints rose by 2.4 percent to 283,221.

Overall, total redress paid out by firms fell 18.9 per cent to £1.98billion in the first half of 2015.

“It is clear that firms need to look at the causes for this rise, and where necessary take action to address the causes of the trend”.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is considering whether a due date ought to be presented for clients asserting pay for the mis-offering of installment security protection (PPI) and is required to distribute its suggestion instantly. Barring PPI, dissensions against banks expanded by 11.6 percent.

He added that companies should have good consumer outcomes at the “heart” of their activities. In other cases, consumers have claimed they were signed up to a packaged account they never wanted.

Banks have had to fork out billions in payouts to those mis-sold PPI in the past.

Complaints about personal pensions and income drawdown rocketed in the first six months of 2015, suggesting thousands of people have encountered problems accessing their retirement cash in the wake of the new freedoms.

The latest complaints data for the first half of this year, published by the Financial Conduct Authority, showed that the top five most moaned about firms in the life and pensions category were Prudential with 8,827 complaints, Friends Life with 7,013, Royal London with 5,688, Aviva with 4,342, and Scottish Widows with 4,110.

“Where customers have been frustrated by requirements to get formal financial advice or have struggled to understand their options, the ABI has proposed solutions to policymakers”.