The scheme’s annual report for 2014-15 revealed that payouts had risen to £327m in 2014/15, a jump of almost 35% from the £243m paid out over 2013/14.
But despite the dramatic rise in the total compensation figure, the number of new claims made fell to 31,762, in 2014/15 from 39,258 the year before.
Compensation payments for self-invested personal pension (SIPP) claims against advisers increased to an average of £16,375, a sharp rise from the previous year’s average of £11,104.
It also paid out £19.4m for 1,142 SIPP-related claims over 2014/15, a jump which caused the FSCS to raise its interim levy to £20m on life and pension advisers in March this year.
In its report, the FSCS said it expects the numbers and costs of complex SIPP claims to “rise steeply” again over 2015/16.
Growing in complexity
The FSCS said claims against intermediaries advising on investments and on life and pensions business are growing in both cost and complexity.
“We have worked hard to modernise our service by overhauling our handling of claims, giving people more choice in the way they deal with us,” said FSCS chief executive, Mark Neale.
Neale said the scheme’s new claims-handling platform Connect will improve the efficiency of claims handling and enable the FSCS to respond rapidly to future business failures.
FSCS recovered funds totalling £560m from the estates of failed firms. This included £494m from the major banking failures of 2008/09.
The levies received from the industry in 2014/15 came in at £1.076bn, compared with £1.1bn in 2013/14.
