Barclays Tops List Of UK Bank Complaints

Barclays was the most complained about bank during the second half of 2011, followed by taxpayer-backed Lloyds TSB.

New data from the Financial Services Authority ( FSA ) reveals that over 280,000 complaints were made against Barclays during the final six months of last year.

Lloyds Banking Group , which is 41% owned by the taxpayer, was the next most complained about bank, with over 240,000 grievances against it.

The UK's other state-backed bank, Royal Bank of Scotland , received more than 206,000 complaints over the six months.

Barclays did not receive any state aid during the 2008 financial crisis but has come under fire recently for the high bonuses rewarded to its executives.

According to the FSA figures, the least complained about major high street bank was Nationwide, with 0.7 grumbles per 1,000 accounts.

This compares to 3.7 complaints per 1,000 bank accounts at Barclays.

Overall there were 2.2 million complaints against UK banks in the last half of 2011, up 21% on the first half of the year.

Almost one million of those were about Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).

Martin Dodd, director of customer services at Lloyds TSB, told Sky News that his bank was working on ways to reduce the number of complaints against it.

He said about 70% of the latest complaints related to PPI, which was an "important but historical problem".

Lloyds was the biggest seller of PPI , setting aside £3.2bn of compensation for those mis-sold the insurance product.

Mr Dodd said the PPI complaints were distorting the overall picture.

"What I'm much more interested in is the experience our customers are having every single day in our branches and when they call us.

"When we look at those figures it is significantly different," he told Sky News.

In a statement, Barclays said its banking division had reduced complaints by 31% compared to the same period the previous year by "tackling root causes, speeding up services and making them simpler".

Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclays Retail and Business Banking added: "Complaints are still higher than our customers should expect, but we are on the right track in bringing them down."

Richard Lloyd, executive director of the consumer group Which?, commented: "Today's complaints data is evidence that some banks are still failing to treat their customers fairly when things go wrong."

He called for the new regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, which is due to replace the FSA from next year, "to be a watchdog not a lapdog".

"It must stand up for consumers and stand up to the banks," he added.