The number of complaints reported to the UK’s Financial Ombudsman has dropped 41% year-on-year due to a reduction in the number of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) complaints made to banks.

In its latest figures for the third financial quarter, the Ombudsman received 107,267 complaints, 73,412 fewer than last year.

The reduction is largely indebted to the drop in PPI complaints. Whilst the public advocate is still receiving around 6,000 new PPI related complaints each week, this is 35,669 fewer overall than the previous quarter and represents a 31% drop year-on-year.

After PPI the most popular area for complaints were current accounts and house mortgages.

Misselling of PPI made headlines in the mid-2000s when it was revealed that the UK’s major banks had been misselling "ineffective and inefficient" insurance alongside mortgages, loans and credit cards since the 1990s.

The reduction in complaints may spell the end of a crisis which has had banks paying out billions to claimants.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

Paul Clark of Charter UK celebrated the figures as a positive sign for banks but has called for more action to be taken with a wider variety of complaints:

"We know why the PPI crisis happened; that mystery has been solved. The challenge ahead is to take on the much larger and more complicated problem of industry-wide complaints, scattered across hundreds of banking products, processes and systems.

"As such, financial services firms will need to re-focus their attention on their ‘everyday’ complaints."

Related articles:

Lloyds fined £28m over incentive schemes’ ‘serious failings’

Barclays to cut 244 jobs with closure of PPI claim centre