Tweet
- Complaints about accounts rose from 1,629 last year to 5,667
- Around nine million people have a 'packaged' account
- One campaigner said there is a 'rotten culture' in banking sector
Complaints against high street banks about fee-paying packaged accounts have more than tripled in a year. Banks have been hit by a backlash from thousands of customers who complain they have paid up to £300 a year for perks they never knew existed or did not want. But the high street giants are routinely rejecting legitimate complaints, forcing customers to take their case to the independent disputes arbitrator, the Financial Ombudsman Service. Critics say the level of customer discontent shows that the banks have a 'rotten culture' and that lenders may become embroiled in a new mis-selling scandal. Complaints about packaged accounts rose to 5,667 in the year to the end of March, up from 1,629 the previous year, according to figures released by the ombudsman today. Seventy-eight per cent of these complaints were upheld in the customer's favour after being rejected by the bank. The ombudsman said total complaints were up by 1 per cent on the previous year to a record of 512,167, with 78 per cent of these being about payment protection insurance. ...............Read more here