The Information Commissioner Office (ICO) received 4,373 complaints about nuisance calls from banks and insurers in 2022. This is way down on the 8,796 logged the year before. However, the number of complaints is still higher than in 2019 (4,183). So, banks still have room to further improve and cannot rest on their laurels.
The data has been released by technology company Quadient and follows a freedom of information request to the ICO.
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Overall, the ICO received 56,015 complaints about nuisance calls and texts in 2022. This is less than half the 131,491 received in 2021 and fewer than in any year since 2019. There were 32,317 complaints about live calls (down 35%) and 13,790 about automated calls (down 74%). In addition, 9,908 complaints related to SMS text messages (down 57%).
Potential reasons include a record number of consumers using Open Banking to call it a day with their existing bank. At the same time, new consumer focused FCA rules have improved customers’ relationships with their insurer.
Despite complaints about automated calls dropping significantly, the 2,904 reported in banking dwarfed the numbers on live calls or texts. According to Quadient, banks must consider whether the cost savings of switching away from using live agents are instead creating a negative impact on customer relationships.
Open banking contributes to drop in complaints
“The ongoing success of Open Banking means a record number of people switched their current account last year. Starting afresh with a new bank, and ideally an improved relationship, may have been a driver for some people to complain less,” said Andrew Stevens, Principal, Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance, Quadient. “On face value the results indicate banks’ investments in training and scripts for live calls are paying off. There were fewer than one thousand complaints made about live calls.”
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By GlobalDataComplaints relating to insurance (3,187) are down by less than other key industries, dropping 13% from 2021’s 3,851. The vast majority of complaints – 2,875 – were related to live calls. This suggests that this is still insurers’ preferred method of communicating with customers.
Complaints around pensions fell by the largest proportion, dropping 67% to 113. Conversely, gambling nuisance calls bucked the trend – complaints increased by 28% year-on-year. And finally, consumers are similarly irritated by nuisance calls around adult content (225), call blockers (219) and payday loans (258).
