Lloyds Banking Group is today providing an update on its complaints handling performance for the first half of 2014.

The complaints figures released for this period show that the Group continued its progress in the first half of 2014 and, on a like for like basis, continues to receive fewer complaints than any other major bank.

Compared with the first half of 2013, the Group's FCA reportable complaints in the first six months of this year, excluding those relating to PPI, went from 104,590 to 129,469. This increase has been driven largely by complaints relating to mortgages following the industry implementation of MMR, issues arising from the introduction of auto enrolment for corporate pension schemes and an increase in banking complaints driven by Claims Management Companies (CMCs).

Banking Complaints
In the six months to June 2014, the Group saw an increase in banking complaints to 83,785. This was largely driven from a 42.7% increase in complaints received via CMCs. Overall, Halifax and Bank of Scotland received 1.2 banking complaints per 1000 accounts, and Lloyds Bank received 1.6. It remains the case that these brands receive fewer complaints than other major banks, relative to the number of accounts that they have.

Group Customer Service Director, Martin Dodd, said: "We remain committed to our aim of being the best bank for customers. Relative to the number of customers we have, we continue to receive fewer complaints than any other major bank. Although our total complaints have increased over the last six months, this is largely attributed to some industry level issues that we have already addressed.

"Along with other providers, we have seen a small increase in the number of mortgage complaints received in the last six months. However, with the significant change the mortgage industry has seen with the introduction of MMR, that is, unfortunately, to be expected. Our aim is always to work out why our customers complain and fix it - and we know that our mortgage customers are already seeing improvements."

PPI Complaints
PPI complaints continue to account for a significant, but reducing, proportion of all complaints received by the Group. In the first half of 2014, PPI complaints accounted for 78% per cent of all complaints. The Group continues to proactively manage the issue of PPI complaints in order that customers can receive redress if they have been missold.  This is an ongoing process and we will continue to review all claims in an in-depth manner that produces fair outcomes for customers.

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