The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced a review of complaints handling and management in major firms, including building societies.
In a speech to the Building Societies Association (BSA) today, Linda Woodall, the FCA’s director of mortgages and consumer lending, said: “something isn’t working in the way firms manage and investigate customers’ complaints”.
Woodall said the regulator will use its new approach to place greater onus on senior persons to understand how their firm’s complaints handling process works.
The announcement comes as the Financial Ombudsman Service revealed it had handled a record number of complaints – more than 327,000 – in the first half of the year.
Lloyds was the worst offender, receiving more than 129,000 complaints in the period, up 38% on the previous six months. Barclays received more than 44,000 complaints, but this was 3% lower than the previous period.
More to follow…