Pensions least complained about products in financial services
Decumulation and pensions were the least complained about products in the second half of 2017, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The category, which includes both occupational and personal pension products, made up just 1% of all complaints recorded by the financial services firms in the second half of 2017, with official concerns raised for just 1.2 (down from 1.3 in H1) in every 1,000 of these products.
Similarly, redress for pensions and decumulation products was the second smallest among the regulator's six categories. Around £20m of redress was paid in H2, down from £23m in H1.
Almost three in five (59%) complaints against these products were upheld in H2, although this had fallen the most of all categories since H1, when these complaints were the most upheld with a rate of 68%.
On average, £518 was doled out per upheld complaint in H2, down from £630 in H1.
However, of the firms providing a form of workplace pension product, Phoenix Life Assurance ranked worst, with 4.62 complaints per 1,000 policyholders. Just over 3,000 complaints were received in this category in the second half of the year, with most relating to general administration or customer service concerns. Nearly four in five (78.1%) were upheld.
The firm's figures include workplace personal pensions, trust-based pensions, annuities, drawdown, and uncrystallised funds pension lump sums, as well non-workplace products.
A spokesperson for Phoenix Life pointed to the company group's overall figures.
"Phoenix has a number of life companies within the organisation. The consolidated figure for Phoenix companies is 2.29.
"Ensuring customers receive the right outcomes from their complaints is the most important measure for us. Our Financial Ombudsman Service overturn rate for the same period was 16%, which was well below the decumulation, life and pension industry average of 27%."
When assessed by the number of products sold within the period, Northern Bank recorded worst in this category with complaints for 100 out of every 1,000 product.
Across all categories, payment protection insurance (PPI) was unsurprisingly the most complained about of all 3.76 million complaints received, possibly due to the FCA's Arnold Schwarzenegger-led campaign to remind customers of the complaint deadline next year.
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