Another set of results and another record number of bank customer complaints.
Complaints figures for FCA regulated firms for the first half of 2018 hit 4.13 million, up 10% from the previous 6 month period.
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PPI remain the most complained about product, accounting for 42% of all complaints. The next most complained about products are current accounts (15%), credit cards (8%) and motor and transport insurance (6%).
Excluding PPI, complaints increased by 9% (193,360) from the previous 6-months. There have been several IT outages in the first half of the year contributing to the increase in complaints to certain firms.
The proportion of non-PPI complaints closed by firms within 3 business days has fallen. 58% of all complaints were resolved by firms in the first half of 2018 within 3 business days. In comparison the figure was 59% in the prior period.
Christopher Woolard, Executive Director of Strategy and Competition says:
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By GlobalData‘Firms need to be doing all that they can to reduce complaints. It is clear that firms need to look at the cause of the rise in complaints and address these issues.
‘It should be a priority for firms to ensure good consumer outcomes are achieved. They should be making sure that they are taking the right steps to treat customers fairly.
‘We are encouraged to see that more consumers are making a decision on whether to complain about PPI.’
To the surprise of nobody after its troubled IT migration, TSB fares badly in the latest results. The proportion of TSB customers that registered complaints about current accounts or credit cards is 1.7%. This figure compares with 0.5% at Lloyds, Barclays 0.6%, RBS 0.7% and HSBC 0.9%.
Bank customer complaints upheld: TSB has work to do
Banks show little signs of improving their dispute resolution processes.
A low percentage of complaints upheld by the ombudsman service would indicate that banks have adopted good complaints-handling practice.
The latest figures suggest otherwise. In the first half, some 78.5% of TSB customer complaints were upheld.
Of all the major UK retail banks, only Metro Bank (46.8%) shows a figure below 50% for complaints being upheld.
Tesco Bank (51.4%) and HSBC (56.0%) rank next best with the lowest percentage of complaints upheld.
