The Financial Conduct Authority reported that financial services firms received 1.84 million complaints in the second half of 2021.

This is 10% lower than in the first half of 2021 when financial services firms received 2.04 million.

The regulator said the figure for H2 2021 is the lowest level recorded since 2016 H2.

The insurance and pure protection product group saw the largest decrease in complaints received by firms.

The number of complaints fell from 890,000 in 2021 H1 to 770,000 complaints in 2021 H2.

The FCA says that no product group saw an increase from 2021 H2. Number of complaints decreased by 14% for home finance, 29% for investments and 16% for decumulation and pensions.

The regulator states: “Unlike in previous returns, the decrease in insurance and pure protection complaints was not driven by the drop in complaints about Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). Instead, it was consistent across all products.

“The exception was in warranties which has increased 18% from 44,329 to 52,091 (after also increasing 19% in 2021 H1).”

Current accounts remain the most complained about products.

The number of complaints for these increased 5% from 2021 H1 to 2021 H2.

Other general insurance is the second most complained about product. Yet the number of complaints fell from 297,650 to 216,438.

The total number of complaints that took longer than eight weeks to close also fell. In 2021 H2, only 6% of complaints took this long to close. It compares to 12% in 2021 H1.

The total redress paid fell 52% from £559m in 2021 H1 to £291.5m.

Although the majority of this can be attributed to the falling PPI complaints, the amount paid for other complaints still fell from £284m in 2021 H1 to £222.2m in 2021 H2.

The percentage of complaints upheld increased slightly from 59.4% in 2021 H1 to 59.5% in 2021 H2.

The FCA’s definition of a complaint is stated in the FCA handbook glossary.

Firms must report complaints from eligible complainants about activities carried out from an establishment maintained by the firm or their appointed representative in the UK.

The complaints data may also include complaints made by retail clients, professional clients, and any other eligible counterparties.

A complaint is considered resolved when the complainant has indicated that they accept the firm’s response to their complaint.

FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi recently said that the regulator is better at timely consumer interventions and is working hard on improving intelligence.