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FSA Complaints Data 2009 H1 Summary

Core Content

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has released an update on complaints data for the first half of 2009 (H1 2009). This update is part of a regular reporting cycle, with firms required to submit complaints data every six months. The FSA previously published data for 2006 to 2008 and continues to provide updates on a six-month basis.

The data includes two main areas:

1. Volume of complaints: Reported by product category, firm type, and cause of complaint.
2. Complaints-handling: Includes resolution times and the proportion of complaints upheld by firms. However, this data is not currently split by product categories or groups.

Main Highlights

• Overall complaints increase: The total number of complaints rose by 2% to 1.51 million compared to H2 2008.
• General insurance and pure protection complaints: Increased by 19% to 334,443, representing a 72% increase since H1 2006. This category includes complaints about payment protection insurance.
• Arrears handling and misleading advice: Both categories saw significant increases, with arrears handling up by 41% to 39,181 and misleading advice up by 19% to 207,967.
• Delays in complaints resolution: Decreased by 23% to 117,774.
• Resolution time over 8 weeks: The proportion of complaints taking more than eight weeks to resolve increased from 10% to 11%, primarily due to complaints from banks and general insurance intermediaries.
• Complaints upheld by firms: This proportion dropped from 40% to 38%, mainly because of a decrease in upheld complaints by banks.

Key Developments

• New reporting requirements: Effective from August 1, 2009, the FSA introduced updated complaints reporting rules. These changes are intended to reduce the reporting burden for firms and enhance the usefulness of the data. As a result, data from H2 2009 onwards may not be directly comparable to previous reports.
• Future publication schedule: Data for H2 2009 will be published in April 2010.
• Consultation on firm-specific data: The FSA is consulting on the publication of firm-specific complaints data for those with the highest complaint volumes. The consultation period ends on October 30. If implemented, this data will be published alongside aggregate data starting in July 2010.

Technical Notes

• Firm categorisation: The FSA links complaints data to its own categorisation of firms (e.g., 'bank', 'discretionary investment manager'). This allows analysis by firm type, but it is important to note that a firm's primary category may not fully reflect its range of business activities.
• Category changes: In H1 2009, some firms changed their permissions, which affected their firm category. This led to a 26% increase in complaints for general insurance intermediaries compared to H2 2008. Without these changes, the increase would have been 13%.
• Reclassification of complaints: Some complaints previously categorised under 'Income Protection' were reclassified as 'Payment Protection Insurance' complaints, affecting the reported volumes in these categories.
• Definition of reportable complaints: Only complaints that remain unresolved by the business day following their receipt are reported. A complaint is considered resolved if the complainant accepts the firm's response, regardless of whether it is in writing. This means the FSA does not have figures for complaints not reported, but evidence suggests that major firms resolve 75–80% of complaints within the eight-week timeframe.

Conclusion

The H1 2009 complaints data reflects a modest overall increase in complaints, with notable rises in certain categories such as general insurance and misleading advice. The FSA is evolving its reporting standards to improve transparency and efficiency, which may impact the comparability of future data. The introduction of firm-specific data and the reclassification of complaints highlight ongoing efforts to refine and enhance the accuracy of the reported statistics.