The figures represent a 6% fall in complaints from 1 July to 31 December 2015, compared with the previous period, while cases not relating to PPI showed a 10% decline.
The Prudential Assurance Company received the most complaints relating to its life and pensions business from 1 July to 31 December 2015, with 262 cases.
Following the Pru with 229 complaints was Phoenix Life, with Aviva Life & Pensions UK receiving the third highest number at 204.
The FOS listed 13 companies that received more than 100 complaints pertaining to life and pensions and drawdown. The others ranked as follows: The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society; Friends Life; Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada; Legal & General Assurance Society; Zurich Assurance; Lloyds subsidiary SW Funding; and Abbey Life Assurance Company.
Financial advisers
In the intermediary space, Sesame received the highest number of complaints, with 116 in total. This figure comprised 44 cases relating to life and pensions and decumulation, while 18 were investment-related.
Sesame also had 24 new cases for general insurance and 10 to do with mortgages and home finance.
Others facing complaints were St James’s Place, which had 61 cases made against it, Positive Solutions with 37 and Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management, with 31 in total.
St James’s Place Wealth Management received 26 complaints about pensions and 24 for investment business, with 10 PPI complaints and seven for GI. It also picked up four mortgage-related complaints.
Elsewhere Positive Solutions Financial Services had 15 pensions complaints, 13 for investments, five for mortgages and just two each for GI and PPI.
Unsurprisingly, most of Hargreaves Lansdown’s cases related to investments, for which they received 21 complaints and 10 were regarding life and pensions or drawdown.
Banks again
Regarding investments, 1,465 complaints were submitted, with the high street banking giants picking up the lion’s share.
Lloyds topped the list with 233, with Barclays, Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Nat West and Santander UK following.
These six together – all receiving more than 100 complaints during the six-month period – accounted for 961 of the total, or roughly 65%.
Thirty companies received more than 10 complaints about investment products.
Chief ombudsman Caroline Wayman said: “The financial services sector has been through a challenging and volatile period in the eight years since the ombudsman first began to publish data about individual financial businesses.
“Though it still makes sense to plan for uncertainty and change ahead, the signs are that complaints are now broadly levelling off as we move onto a more even keel in the coming year.”
Perennial PPI
More broadly, payment protection insurance was the subject of 56% of the total 164,347 new cases handled during the timeframe – in line with its previous period.
The overall figure was 6% lower than its previous six months, while cases not relating to PPI showed a 10% decline, to 71,663.
The ombudsman said this reflected the downward trend in products such as packaged bank accounts, mortgages and pensions as the end of year approached.
The average uphold rate – where the FOS finds in favour of the consumer – was 53%.
Wayman added: “There are many factors that can influence the complaints we see, from fluctuations in the stock market to extreme weather conditions – and more people knowing their rights when things go wrong.
“That’s why I believe it’s important that we continue to find new ways to work so we can resolve complaints quickly, while sharing our knowledge so businesses can avoid the ‘big claims issues’ of the past.”
