Complaints for the “decumulation & pensions” product group saw a 20 per cent rise from the second half of 2022 to the first half of 2023, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
According to new complaints data published by the FCA, financial services companies received 1.88 million opened complaints in H1 2023, an increase of 5 per cent from H2 2022’s 1.8 million complaints.
The product groups with increased complaint numbers from H2 2022 to H1 2023 were: Decumulation & pensions: 20 per cent, Investments: 18 per cent, Insurance & pure protection: 6 per cent and Banking and credit cards: 3 per cent.
Newcastle Building Society led in decumulation and pensions complaints with 71.43 complaints per 1,000 policies, and Equiniti Financial Services Limited had 44.21 complaints per 1,000 policies.
Meanwhile, Creation Financial Services Limited recorded the highest complaints at 191.21 in Insurance & Pure Protection per 1,000 policies in force.
Additionally, redress payments grew by 4 per cent, from £228m in the second half of 2022 to £236m in the first half of 2023. It should be noted that this sum is 22 per cent less than the £304m reported in the first half of 2022.
The compensation for payment protection insurance complaints significantly decreased by 75 per cent, from £32m in the first half of 2022 to £8m in the first half of 2023, which is the key factor behind this year-over-year decline.
Data from around 290 firms is included in the FCA’s report on complaints. These businesses either submit 500 complaints or more every six months or 1,000 complaints or more every year.
