The FCA said that the increase in complaints was mainly driven by a 75% increase in the volume of PPI complaints received, from 2.12m to 3.71m. PPI complaints made up 62% of all complaints received during this period, continuing to be the most complained about product. This was the highest level of PPI complaints reported to the FCA by firms, aligning with the deadline for submitting claims to firms by the 29 August 2019.

The data show that fewer PPI complaints were closed in 8 weeks by firms, down from 76% in 2019 H1 to 56% in 2019 H2. 50% of PPI complaints were upheld in 2019 H2, compared with 54% in 2019 H1.

As well as PPI complaints increasing during H2 2019, there was a 6% increase in all other complaint volumes compared with 2019 H1, from 2.18m to 2.31m. 

Excluding PPI complaints, the most complained about products were current accounts (10% of all complaints), credit cards (6%) and other general insurance products (5%).

Over the same period, complaints about home finance products decreased from 8.7 to 8.4 complaints per 1,000 balances outstanding, while investment products increased from 2.1 to 2.3.

Overall, excluding PPI, the average redress per complaint upheld decreased from £200 in the first half to 2019 to £184 in the second half of the year.