Complaints about misleading advice soars by 18%
Complaints about misleading financial advice soared by 18% in
the first half of the year compared to the last six months of 2008,
according to figures published by the Financial Services Authority
(FSA).
The FSA registered a staggering 50,000 more complaints in the
first six months of 2009 than over the same period the previous
year.
Mortgage endowments were the subject of most complaints -
registering 42,998 grievances. Personal pensions followed with
24,197 and investment bonds with 16,818, while the FSA also found
"serious failings" with the sales of payment protection
insurance.
The FSA registered a staggering 50,000 more
complaints in the first six months of 2009 than over the same
period the previous year.
Inevitably this means that companies are also taking more time
to deal with complaints with the proportion of cases taking longer
than eight weeks increasing from 10% to 11%, however those actually
upheld by firms fell from 40% to 38%.
Meanwhile, the 39,181 complaints received about companies'
handling of customers in mortgage arrears is an all-time record and
the FSA has warned lenders to clean up their acts or risk
enforcement action and heavy fines.
Indeed one lender has already been punished with GMAC-RFC
receiving a £2.8m fine as well as being ordered pay out £7.7m in
compensation to customers it mistreated.
In total, 1,507,139 complaints were made to financial services
firms in the six months to the end of June - a rise of 2% - with
banks receiving the vast majority at 1,013,601.
Firms are required to report to the FSA every six months on the
number of complaints they receive and how they handle them.
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