Complaints about banking institutions and other finance companies hit eight,000 a day

A record 2.4m people contacted the Financial Ombudsman in the past 12 months to complain about economic discounts, equating to 8,000 per day

 

Far more then two million men and women contacted the Economic Ombudsman final yr to complain about banks, insurers, investment companies or other regulated organizations.

These first contacts then turned into above 512,000 complete-blown cases, exactly where data is sought from each sides of the dispute and an adjudication eventually reached – usually only months later on.

The numbers are launched today in the yearly review of the Financial Ombudsman Support, the world’s largest buyer arbitration physique.

Complaints are increasing at a staggering price. 5 years in the past in 2009 there had been just 163,000 new circumstances opened – much less than a third of today’s volumes.

The increase is largely down to payment safety insurance (PPI) disputes. This type of cover was sold in huge quantities by banks and other lenders alongside personalized loans, creit cards and mortgages. It was subsequently discredited and a torrent of complaints against banking institutions resulted, triggering them to have out over £12bn in compensation and premium refunds to date – with the total even now rising.

Though the Ombudsman says “the tide of complaints about PPI appears to be turning”, it is even now the most significant driver of general volumes.

Of the complaints resolved during the many years – practically 520,000 – about 390,000 concerned PPI.

Partly as a result of PPI, banks carry on to be the most complained about institutions.

The quantity of PPI complaints also overshadowed complaints about other forms of insurance, but complaints grew in many of these places, as well.

Motor insurance coverage accounted for 23pc of complaints about insurance unrelated to PPI, with buildings and contents insurance coverage policies accounting for one more 21pc of complaints.

The Ombudsman Support, which employs three,500 folks and expenses above £200m per yr to run, has extended attracted criticisms from finance firms for getting also costly and inconsistent in its rulings.

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