PPI Saga Leads to 29% Increase in Complaints Against Financial Services Sector

MANCHESTER, England, April 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

A report released at the end of March revealed that overall complaints against the financial services sector increased by 29 per cent, to 1,660,578.

The worst-performing single bank was Barclays, however the Lloyds banking group, which includes the HBOS and Halifax sub-brands, attracted more complaints overall.

The report attributed this significant rise in complaints to customers contacting banks regarding PPI mis-selling and refunds.

In the first half of 2011 alone Barclays dealt with 251,000 new complaints, a figure which rose to 281,000 in the second half of the year.

In comparison, Lloyds TSB handled 240,000 complaints in the second half of 2011, whilst Bank of Scotland opened 206,000 new complaint files, a huge rise from the first half of the year, which saw 130,000 complaints against the Scottish bank.*

"It's a significant rise in complaints across the board" said Simon Thompson, Managing Director at PPI claims specialist Precision Claims.

"We've all known for a while how big a scandal the PPI mis-selling would prove to be, and that's finally filtering through into complaint levels against the major banks.

"It's great that the FSA is finally taking action and forcing banks to contact customers who may have been mis-sold to in the past, and we expect PPI claims and complaints to continue to rise in 2012, as more and more customers realise that the banks owe them money for useless, misleading PPI."

Protection complaints were not only made against banks: Aviva Insurance Limited opened 13,330 new complaint files and Axa PPP Healthcare received 1764 insurance and protection complaints in the second half of 2011 alone.

The Financial Ombudsman and private PPI claims specialists are now urging consumers to consider whether they have a claim for mis-sold financial protection insurance.

Precision Claims  offers help and advice for those who suspect they have been mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). If you would like more information about making a  PPI claim  visit the company's website at  http://www.precisionclaims.co.uk  or call today for a free enquiry on 0844-704-1945.

*The figures were originally published by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).