COMPLAINTS about Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) have climbed to their highest level in three years according to the Financial Conduct Authority.

It said the number had risen by 24 per cent in the first half of this year, to 1.11 million compared to the 899,000 total for the previous six months. The rise happened even before the FCA announced an August 29, 2019, deadline to apply for compensation.

PPI accounted for 82 per cent of the £2 billion paid out to consumers whose complaints were upheld over the six months.

The total number of complaints is the highest since the first half of 2014, when 1.2 million people applied for compensation.

So far, £27bn has been paid out to those who were mis-sold PPI, which was supposed to cover them for loss of income should they be unable to work. But it was unnecessary for most people.

The FCA has mounted a publicity campaign to encourage people to claim before the deadline, featuring the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It believes that most of those eligible to claim have not yet done so, raising the spectre that the banks may need to set aside even more cash than the £37bn they have to date.

The FCA did not say why there had been such a large rise in PPI complaints, when figures from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) showed a fall in the number of complaints since 2014.

Complaints made direct to a person’s bank or credit card company, in the first stage of the process, are taken into account by the FCA, while the Ombudsman only becomes involved if a consumer has a complaint rejected by their bank and decides to take it further.

Christopher Woolard, executive director of strategy and competition at the FCA, said: “We now require firms to report all complaints which gives us a fuller picture of where the industry might not be meeting customer needs.

“But even allowing for the change in reporting rules, and some progress made, the numbers are still significant.”