In October 2021, the FCA published its six-monthly complaints data.
The FCA publishes two different types of data every six months: firm-specific data for individual firms and aggregate or total figures for the industry. This includes data from firms that have reported 500 or more complaints in a six-month period, or 1,000 or more in a year (this totals approximately 290 firms). These complaints account for around 98% of all complaints that firms report.
In 2021 H1, financial services firms received 2.04 million complaints, 7% lower than in 2020 H2 (2.19 million). This is the lowest level recorded since 2016 H2.
The insurance and pure protection product group saw the largest decrease in complaints received by firms (13%), from 1.01 million complaints in 2020 H2 to 0.88 million in 2021 H1. There was also a noticeable decrease in home finance complaints (11%) and significant increases in investments (18%) and decumulation and pensions complaints (26%).
The decrease in insurance and pure protection complaints continues to be driven by the tailing off of complaints about Payment Protection Insurance (256,416 in 2020 H2 to 56,619 in 2021 H1). There has also been a decrease of 63% in travel insurance-related complaints, after a spike in 2020 driven by Covid-19.
Over the last few years, complaints about platforms have increased from 8,431 in 2019 H2 to 17,090 in 2021 H1 (an increase of 103%). Complaints about workplace personal pensions have also been steadily increasing, from 7,642 in 2017 H2 to 14,974 in 2021 H1, an increase of 96%.
If you’d like to know more about how we can help you with your complaints handling or FCA reporting arrangements, or with any other regulatory compliance issues, our expert team is here to help.
Contact us today on 0207 436 0630 – or email info@thistleinitiatives.co.uk.