During the second half of 2017, a total of 3.76 million complaints made to financial services firms were received, an increase of 427,032 on the first half of the year, new data from the FCA has revealed.

Complaints about PPI rose by 40% to 1.55 million, the highest level of complaints received about PPI in over four years. In January 2018, firms paid out £415.8m in redress to customers who complained about PPI, the highest figure since March 2016 and takes the total amount paid since January 2011 to £30bn.

FCA executive director of strategy and competition Christopher Woolard said: “Having set a deadline for PPI complaints, we are encouraging consumers to decide whether they want to claim, and if they do, to make their complaint as soon as possible, as many already have.

“We are continuing to monitor and challenge all firms to ensure they maintain the expected standards and are delivering on their commitments to make it easy for people to complain about PPI.

“When PPI is taken out of the mix, the numbers of complaints firms are receiving has remained stable. Firms should be doing all they can to reduce complaints and ensure they are treating customers fairly.”

Excluding the number of complaints surrounding PPI, the number of complaints received by firms was 2.21 million, approximately 13,000 fewer than the number recorded in the first half of 2017.

Following PPI, the most complained about products were current accounts, with 509,047 complaints. Credit cards were the third most popular product among complainants, with 314,586 complaints reported.

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