Prudential was the nation’s most complained about life and pensions provider in the first six months of 2016, followed by Friends Life and Royal London, figures published today by the regulator show.
The FCA says Prudential experienced 6,161 complaints in the first half of the year followed by Friends Life on 5,874, Royal London with 4,711 and Aviva Life Services UK with 3,267. Taken together, Aviva plc providers, which include Friends Life, were responsible for 9,141 complaints, while the combined total for Phoenix Life and Phoenix Life Assurance stood at £4,383.
The regulator says all product categories saw a reduction in redress payments in the first half of 2016 when compared to the second half of 2015, except for home finance group of products which increased by 2 per cent and general insurance and pure protection (including PPI) which increased by 6 per cent.
The top ten firms paid 85 per cent of the total redress given to consumers in the first half of 2016 across all FCA-regulated product types. This is broadly consistent with the previous period during which the top ten firms accounted for 83 per cent of total redress paid to consumers.
The FCA publishes complaints data received from firms every six months, alongside aggregated figures covering the whole industry. The FCA requires firms that receive 500 or more complaints in a six-month period to publish the information on their websites.
FCA director of strategy and competition Christopher Woolard says: “To see another six months of reduction in the total number complaints is encouraging. “Firms still need to continue to ensure they are doing all they can to reduce consumer dissatisfaction, but the figures show firms are taking our feedback seriously”.
Most complained about providers: Decumulation, Life and Pensions
- Prudential 6,161
- Friends Life 5,874
- Royal London 4,711
- Aviva Life Services UK 3,267
- Phoenix Life 3,109
- Zurich 3,010
- Scottish Equitable (Aegon) 2,365
- ReAssure 2,032
- SW Funding (Lloyds) 2,006
- Abbey Life 1,811
- Legal & General 1,791
- Standard Life Assurance 1,388
- Phoenix Life Assurance 1,274
- Sun Life Assurance of Canada 1,169
Investment
- Barclays Bank Plc 3,422
- HSBC Bank Plc 3,269
- Santander UK Plc 2,453
- Equiniti Financial Services Limited 1,498
- Financial Administration Services Limited 1,474
General insurance and pure protection (including payment protection insurance)
- Barclays Bank Plc 153,718
- Lloyds Bank PLC 140,669
- Bank of Scotland plc 115,121
- MBNA Limited 75,995
- HSBC Bank Plc 49,292
