July to December 2014
In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requires financial services firms to report on the number of UK FCA reportable customer complaints they receive on a half yearly basis. This includes capturing expressions of dissatisfaction and aiming to resolve complaints within eight weeks. If complaints remain unresolved after eight weeks or if a customer is dissatisfied with our final response, they have the option to refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS also publishes a half yearly report on financial services complaints they receive.
This site provides an overview of Barclays FCA reportable complaints data since 2010 and highlights how we are driving down complaints by improving the overall customer experience. We are committed to delivering a sustained reduction in complaints and while we are heading in the right direction, we recognise we still have a way to go.
Our complaints data is published individually for each UK legal entity and in a Barclays Group summary, with segmentation across the five FCA product categories. Barclays Bank PLC accounts for the majority of all Barclays UK FCA reportable complaints (98%). Barclays complaints should be viewed within the context that we undertook on average over 8.5 million transactions per day during H2 2014, one of the highest volumes of transactions in the UK banking industry.
For the second half of 2014 (H2):
- The new figures now give a complete picture for 2014 where total complaints including PPI reduced by 132,771 (2014, 566,010; 2013, 698,781), a 19 per cent reduction within this:
- PPI* (General Insurance complaints) are down 173,663 (2014: 342,091; 2013: 515,754)
- Banking complaints are up 39,903 (2014: 203,668; 2013: 163,765), driven largely by historic issues not the day to day experience of customers in 2014. Levels of banking complaints remain much lower than in previous years (2012: 277,736; 2011: 321,908)
- Mortgage complaints are up 2,638 (2014: 11,368; 2013: 8,730) reflecting a significant growth in the number of applications Barclays’ handles each day. However, following work to address these issues, the volume of complaints has fallen seven per cent in the second half of 2014 (H2 2014, 5,468; H1 2014, 5,900)
* The General insurance and Pure Protection category, of which the overwhelming majority are PPI complaints.
Detailed below is Barclays’ FCA reportable complaints data.
Barclays Group summary
Period covered in this report: 1 July - 31 December 2014
Brands/trading names covered: Barclays Bank Plc, Barclays Sharedealing, Barclays Stockbrokers Limited, Clydesdale Financial Services Limited, Firstplus Financial Group PLC, Woolwich Plan Managers Limited, Standard Life Cash Savings & Mortgages, Standard Life Cash Savings, Standard Life Mortgages, Barclays Direct (formally ING Direct UK).
|
Number of complaints opened |
Number of complaints closed |
Complaints closed within eight weeks (%) |
Complaints upheld by firm (%) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Banking |
112,470 |
105,003 |
73% |
62% |
|
Home finance |
5,468 |
6,108 |
82% |
71% |
|
General insurance and pure protection |
159,527 |
204,870 |
78% |
83% |
|
Decumulation, life and pensions |
796 |
740 |
74% |
36% |
|
Investments |
3,407 |
3,617 |
85% |
41% |
|
Total |
281,668 |
320,338 |
76% |
75% |
Barclays Bank Plc
Firm name: Barclays Bank Plc
Group: Barclays Group
Other firms included in this report (if any): Barclays Insurance Services Company Ltd and Solution Personal Finance Ltd
Brands/trading names covered: Barclays Bank Plc, Barclays Retail Bank, Barclaycard, Barclays Wealth, Barclays Business Bank, Barclays Corporate Bank, Solution Personal Finance Ltd, Standard Life Cash Savings & Mortgages, Standard Life Cash Savings, Standard Life Mortgages, Barclays Stockbrokers Limited, Barclays Sharedealing, Barclays Direct (formally ING Direct UK).
|
Number of complaints opened |
Number of complaints closed |
Complaints closed within eight weeks (%) |
Complaints upheld by firm (%) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Banking |
109,994 |
102,426 |
72% |
62% |
|
Home finance |
5,451 |
6,087 |
82% |
71% |
|
General insurance and pure protection |
157,822 |
202,759 |
78% |
83% |
|
Decumulation, life and pensions |
783 |
727 |
74% |
36% |
|
Investments |
2,576 |
2,742 |
81% |
42% |
|
Total |
276,626 |
314,741 |
76% |
76% |
Clydesdale Financial Services Limited
Firm name: Clydesdale Financial Services Limited
Group: Barclays Group
Other firms included in this report (if any):
Brands/trading names covered: Clydesdale Financial Services Limited, Barclays Partner Finance.
|
Number of complaints opened |
Number of complaints closed |
Complaints closed within eight weeks (%) |
Complaints upheld by firm (%) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Banking |
2,101 |
2,186 |
95% |
33% |
|
Home finance |
0 |
0 |
0% |
0% |
|
General insurance and pure protection |
60 |
63 |
97% |
83% |
|
Decumulation, life and pensions |
0 |
0 |
0% |
0% |
|
Investments |
0 |
0 |
0% |
0% |
|
Total |
2,161 |
2,249 |
95% |
34% |
Firstplus Financial Group Plc
Firm name: Firstplus Financial Group Plc
Group: Barclays Group
Other firms included in this report (if any):
Brands/trading names covered: Firstplus Financial Group Plc.
|
Number of complaints opened |
Number of complaints closed |
Complaints closed within eight weeks (%) |
Complaints upheld by firm (%) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Banking |
375 |
391 |
97% |
49% |
|
Home finance |
17 |
21 |
90% |
10% |
|
General insurance and pure protection |
1,645 |
2,048 |
91% |
92% |
|
Decumulation, life and pensions |
0 |
0 |
0% |
0% |
|
Investments |
0 |
0 |
0% |
0% |
|
Total |
2,037 |
2,460 |
92% |
85% |
Woolwich Plan Managers Limited
Firm name: Woolwich Plan Managers Limited
Group: Barclays Group
Other firms included in this report (if any): Barclays Wealth Funds Limited
Brands/trading names covered: Woolwich Plan Managers Limited, Barclays Wealth Funds Limited.
|
Number of complaints opened |
Number of complaints closed |
Complaints closed within eight weeks (%) |
Complaints upheld by firm (%) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Banking |
0 |
0 |
0% |
0% |
|
Home finance |
0 |
0 |
0% |
0% |
|
General insurance and pure protection |
0 |
0 |
0% |
0% |
|
Decumulation, life and pensions |
15 |
8 |
75% |
75% |
|
Investments |
485 |
447 |
98% |
36% |
|
Total |
500 |
455 |
98% |
36% |
Additional context
Barclays Group has over 40 million Banking category related accounts, including current accounts, credit cards, personal loans and savings accounts. This means we reported 2.75 Banking complaints per 1,000 accounts.
For every Home Finance (mortgage) account, we reported 5.66 complaints for every 1,000 loans outstanding.
In total, we reported 50.4 complaints per 1,000 accounts related to General Insurance and Pure Protection, with the majority of complaints in this category related to Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). Excluding this product, we reported 1.9 complaints per 1,000 accounts.