The FCA has revealed which firms it has received the most complaints about, with Barclays Bank topping the list for investment products.

Prudential was the most complained about in the decumulation, life and pensions category, ahead of Friends Life and Aviva.
Although overall complaints against finance firms fell by 5%, with payment protection insurance dropping by 11%, savings, cash and other banking rose by 4%.
PPI remains number one in the list for products, with 1,236,899 complaints. This accounted for 52% of all complaints and 78% regarding general insurance and pure protection products.
The latest data published showed 2,358,732 new complaints between January and June 2014.
The FCA's director of policy, risk and research, Christopher Woolard, said: "It's important that firms now get on top of the issues that are driving complaints. "Although it's encouraging to see the total number of complaints fall, there is clearly further work to be done to ensure that consumer interests come first."

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By product group, the firms with the largest number of complaints opened in the first half of 2014 were:

Decumulation, Life and Pensions
· The Prudential Assurance Company Limited - 7,084
· Friends Life Limited - 6,299
· Aviva Life Services UK Limited - 5,840
· Scottish Widows Plc - 5,674
· Phoenix Life Limited - 3,863

Investments
· Barclays Bank Plc - 2,844
· Financial Administration Services Limited - 1,912
· HSBC Bank Plc - 1,912
· Bank of Scotland Plc - 1,647
· Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management Limited - 1,572

Banking
· Santander UK Plc - 91,158
· Barclays Bank Plc - 88,792
· HSBC Bank Plc - 65,865
· National Westminster Bank Plc - 62,175
· Lloyds Bank Plc - 42,245

Home finance (mortgages and equity release products)
· Bank of Scotland Plc - 16,204
· Santander UK Plc - 11,141
· NRAM Plc - 7,863
· HSBC Bank Plc - 5,880
· Barclays Bank Plc - 5,874

General insurance and pure protection (including payment protection insurance)
· Lloyds Bank Plc - 219,306
· Bank of Scotland Plc - 205,526
· Barclays Bank Plc - 180,112
· MBNA Limited - 107,481
· National Westminster Bank Plc - 72,800

The top five most complained about firms, in terms of the number of complaints received in the first half of 2014, were:

· Barclays Bank Plc - 278,426 (a decrease of 10% since the second half of 2013)
· Bank of Scotland Plc - 265,640 (an increase of 46% since the second half of 2013)
· Lloyds Bank Plc - 264,115 (an increase of 3% since the second half of 2013)
· National Westminster Bank Plc - 140,342 (a decrease of 20% since the second half of 2013)
· Santander UK Plc – 135,611 (a decrease of 13% since the second half of 2013)

The top five most complained about products and services in the first half of 2014 were:

1. Payment protection insurance – 1,236,899 complaints (down 11%, compared to the previous 6 months)
2. Current accounts –319,505 complaints (up 3%, compared to the previous 6 months)
3. Other general insurance – 318,502complaints (down 1%, compared to the previous 6 months)
4. Credit cards –127,708 complaints (down 10%, compared to the previous 6 months)
5. Savings, including cash ISAs, and other banking - 89,767 complaints (up 4%, compared to the previous 6 months)