Complaints to banks and building societies up 70%

The number of complaints to banks and building societies in the first half of 2012 totaled 2,767,913, an increase of 67% compared wih the second half of last year, the regulator said. The increase was driven by a rise in the volume of complaints about ‘general insurance and pure protection', which increased by 99% to 2,541,430. Overall, complaints caused by ‘advising, selling and arranging' increased by 116% to 2,362,051.Of those, the overwhelming majority (2,256,707, equating to 96%) were about general insurance and pure protection products. Like the Financial Ombudsman Service, t...