According to the FSA figures, Barclays received more complaints than any other banking brand, with 251,563 complaints made by UK customers, 53% of which were upheld in customers' favour.
Santander recieved 168,888 complaints, Lloyds TSB: 181,907 and HSBC recieved 98,150, yet figures show that banking complaints are at their lowest level since 2008, at 812,197- a 10% decrease on the previous half year and 22% down on a year ago.
The total overall number of complaints increased by 3% to 1,852,284 in 2011 H1. Complaints about 'general insurance and pure protection' increased by 18% to 848,357 and 560,892 of these were as a result of 'advising selling and arranging' causes.
Overall, complaints about 'advising, selling and arranging' increased by 21% to 648,924.
Included in the 'general insurance and pure protection' figures above, the total number of complaints about PPI increased by 23% to 531,667.
Complaints about 'terms and disputed sums or charges' continued to fall this half year and were the lowest since 2008 H2 at 429,423.
The rise in complaints about PPI, combined with the legal case, resulted in the percentage of general insurance and pure protection complaints closed within 8 weeks decreasing from 84% in 2010 H2 to 72% in 2011 H1, contributing to the fall in the total number of complaints closed within 8 weeks,
The total number of closed complaints decreased by 9% to 1,562,287. This was mainly caused by the number of closed banking complaints which decreased by 15% to 834,145.
The percentage upheld remained stable, increasing from 49% in 2010 H2 to 50% in 2011 H1.
The total amount of redress paid decreased by 11% from £459m in 2010 H2 to £409m in 2011 H1. Within this, the decrease of 18% in redress paid for general insurance and pure protection will also have been affected by firms placing some of their PPI complaints on hold during the judicial review.
Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith, says:
“The big high street banks attract a huge number of complaints and have a poor track record for customer satisfaction, yet few people vote with their feet by switching providers. This shows that the market isn’t working.
“We need to create a market where banks have to compete for their customers with good value products and better service.
"The regulator must act to promote competition by dramatically improving the switching process so banks have a simple choice – look after your customers or lose them.”
