Barclays.comUK complaints data
"Tackling complaints is our top priority and today’s figures show real sustained progress on delivering on our commitments, with a reduction of over 30 per cent in Banking complaints."
“We made a commitment to put customers at the heart of our business and improve customer service. Tackling complaints is our top priority and today’s figures show real sustained progress on delivering on our commitments, with a reduction of over 30 per cent in Banking complaints.
“We can and will do more to improve service and go further and faster to drive down complaints. We are aiming for further significant reductions in underlying complaints in the first half of 2012 as we continue on our journey to get it right first time, every time, for our customers.”
Antony Jenkins
Chief Executive, Barclays Retail and Business Banking
Our approach
Our priority is to deliver excellent service every time a customer interacts with us. However, there are occasions when we do get it wrong. When this happens, we make every effort to try and rectify issues as quickly as possible.
Whilst we focus on a speedy resolution wherever possible, we believe complaints give us an opportunity to listen to and better understand the needs of our customers. We use this feedback to learn from the experience, continually improve our processes and prevent issues from reoccurring. We believe complaint handling is not just about principles and processes, but about resolving the root cause of customer concerns and stopping complaints from occurring in the first place.
In 2011, we made significant progress in improving customer experience and reducing overall complaints. For example, in Barclays Bank PLC in the Banking category we achieved a 31% reduction in complaint volumes in 2011 compared to 2010, with a 10% decrease in complaints between half two to half one of 2011.
Complaint reductions have been driven by a relentless focus on addressing the root cause of complaints and improving our complaint handling. For example, in 2011 we:
- Improved our account opening process to significantly reduce the length of time it takes to open a personal or business account, with 95% of business accounts now being opened within 24 hours. This achieved a 41% reduction in related complaints
- Reduced the length of time customers receive a replacement debit card to two days, where previously the process could take a week. This reduced related complaints by 59%
- Decreased the length of time funds are released to next of kin in cases of bereavement, leading to a 72% reduction in related complaints
- Introduced an enhanced Barclaycard helpdesk to provide frontline colleagues with access to expert knowledge, help and advice, to help address 86% of customer issues within two days of being raised.
Whilst our improvement in complaints is encouraging, volumes overall are still too high, and we will continue to drive a sustainable reduction in complaint volumes and improve our overall service to customers in 2012.
The General Insurance and Pure Protection category is the most significant exception to the overall progress we are making in reducing complaint volumes. Complaints in this category increased in 2011, with the key driver being an increase in Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) complaints.
We anticipate PPI will continue to impact volumes in 2012 and will continue to work hard to clear PPI complaints as quickly as possible, resolving all complaints in a transparent and efficient way.
UK complaints data - July to December 2011
In the UK, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) requires financial services firms to report on the number of UK FSA reportable customer complaints they receive on a half yearly basis. This includes capturing expressions of dissatisfaction and aiming to resolve complaints within eight weeks. If complaints remain unresolved after eight weeks or if a customer is dissatisfied with our final response, they have the option to refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS also publishes a half yearly report on financial services complaints they receive.
This site provides an overview of Barclays FSA reportable complaints data since 2010 and highlights how we are driving down complaints by improving the overall customer experience. We are committed to delivering a sustained reduction in complaints and while we are heading in the right direction, we recognise we still have a way to go.
Our complaints data is published individually for each UK legal entity and in a Barclays Group summary, with segmentation across the five FSA product categories. Barclays Bank PLC accounts for the majority of all Barclays UK FSA reportable complaints (96%). Barclays complaints should be viewed within the context that we undertake over 1.5 million transactions per day, one of the highest volumes of transactions in the UK banking industry.
Detailed below is Barclays FSA reportable complaints data:
- Barclays Bank Plc
- Barclays Stockbrokers Limited
- Clydesdale Financial Services Limited
- Firstplus Financial Group Plc
- Woolwich Plan Managers Limited
- Barclays Group summary
Barclays Bank Plc
Firm name: Barclays Bank Plc
Group: Barclays Group
Other firms included in this report (if any): Barclays Insurance Services Company Ltd
Period covered in this report: 1 July - 31 December 2011
Brands/trading names covered: Barclays Bank Plc, Barclays Retail Bank, Barclaycard, Barclays Wealth, Barclays Business Bank, Barclays Corporate Bank, Solution Personal Finance Ltd, Standard Life Cash Savings & Mortgages, Standard Life Cash Savings, Standard Life Mortgages.
| Number of complaints open | Number of complaints closed | Complaints resolved within eight weeks (%) | Complaints upheld by firm (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banking | 146,316 | 155,257 | 96% | 52% |
| Home finance |
6,837 | 7,913 | 82% | 59% |
| General insurance and pure protection | 122,992 | 132,695 | 21% | 68% |
| Decumulation, life and pensions | 2,055 | 1,946 | 72% | 27% |
| Investments | 3,284 | 3,700 | 55% | 37% |
| Total | 281,484 | 301,511 | 62% | 59% |
Notes:
- Barclays Bank Plc numbers include complaints from the vast majority (96%) of our UK businesses
- Barclays Bank Plc complaints of 281,484 for six months should be viewed within the context that it undertakes over 1.5 million transactions per day, one of the highest volumes of transactions in the UK banking industry.
Barclays Stockbrokers Limited
Firm name: Barclays Stockbrokers Limited
Group: Barclays Group
Other firms included in this report (if any):
Period covered in this report: 1 July - 31 December 2011
Brands/trading names covered: Barclays Stockbrokers Limited.
| Number of complaints open | Number of complaints closed | Complaints resolved within eight weeks (%) | Complaints upheld by firm (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banking | - | - | - | - |
| Home finance |
1 | - | - | - |
| General insurance and pure protection | - | - | - | - |
| Decumulation, life and pensions | 67 | 73 | 86% | 47% |
| Investments | 1,347 | 1,407 | 96% | 36% |
| Total | 1,415 | 1,480 | 96% | 36% |
Clydesdale Financial Services Limited
Firm name: Clydesdale Financial Services Limited
Group: Barclays Group
Other firms included in this report (if any):
Period covered in this report: 1 July - 31 December 2011
Brands/trading names covered: Clydesdale Financial Services Limited, Barclays Partner Finance.
| Number of complaints opened | Number of complaints closed | Complaints closed within eight weeks (%) | Complaints upheld by firm (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banking | 4,707 | 3,941 | 95% | 29% |
| Home finance |
- | - | - | - |
| General insurance and pure protection | 103 | 95 | 98% | 13% |
| Decumulation, life and pensions | - | - | - | - |
| Investments | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 4,810 | 4,036 | 95% | 28% |
Firstplus Financial Group Plc
Firm name: Firstplus Financial Group Plc
Group: Barclays Group
Other firms included in this report (if any):
Period covered in this report: 1 July - 31 December 2011
Brands/trading names covered: Firstplus Financial Group Plc.
| Number of complaints opened | Number of complaints closed | Complaints closed within eight weeks (%) | Complaints upheld by firm (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banking | 581 | 691 | 96% | 35% |
| Home finance |
19 | 19 | 84% | 16% |
| General insurance and pure protection | 3,966 | 6,399 | 15% | 86% |
| Decumulation, life and pensions | - | - | - | - |
| Investments | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 4,566 | 7,109 | 23% | 81% |
Woolwich Plan Managers Limited
Firm name: Woolwich Plan Managers Limited
Group: Barclays Group
Other firms included in this report (if any):
Period covered in this report: 1 July - 31 December 2011
Brands/trading names covered: Woolwich Plan Managers Limited, Barclays Wealth Funds Limited.
| Number of complaints opened | Number of complaints closed | Complaints closed within eight weeks (%) | Complaints upheld by firm (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banking | - | - | - | - |
| Home finance |
- | - | - | - |
| General insurance and pure protection | - | - | - | - |
| Decumulation, life and pensions | 3 | 2 | 100% | 0% |
| Investments | 1,575 | 1,623 | 97% | 50% |
| Total | 1,578 | 1,625 | 97% | 50% |
Barclays Group summary
Other firms included in this report (if any): Barclays Insurance Services Company Ltd
Period covered in this report: 1 July - 31 December 2011
Brands/trading names covered: Barclays Bank Plc, Barclays Sharedealing, Barclays Stockbrokers Limited, Clydesdale Financial Services Limited, Firstplus Financial Group PLC, Woolwich Plan Managers Limited, Standard Life Cash Savings & Mortgages, Standard Life Cash Savings, Standard Life Mortgages.
| Number of complaints opened | Number of complaints closed | Complaints closed within eight weeks (%) | Complaints upheld by firm (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banking | 151,604 | 159,889 | 96% | 51% |
| Home finance |
6,857 | 7,932 | 82% | 59% |
| General insurance and pure protection | 127,061 | 139,189 | 21% | 69% |
| Decumulation, life and pensions | 2,125 | 2,021 | 72% | 27% |
| Investments | 6,206 | 6,730 | 74% | 40% |
| Total | 293,853 | 315,761 | 62% | 59% |
Additional context:
- Barclays Group has over 40 million Banking category related accounts, including current accounts, credit cards, personal loans and savings accounts. This means we reported 3.72 Banking complaints per 1,000 accounts
- For every Home finance (mortgage) account, we reported 7.35 complaints for every 1,000 loans outstanding
- In total, we reported 26.19 complaints per 1,000 accounts related to General Insurance and Pure Protection, with the majority of complaints in this category related to Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). Excluding this product, we reported 0.94 complaints per 1,000 accounts
- We reported 3.53 complaints per 1,000 Decumulation, Life and Pensions accounts
- In the Investments category, we reported 3.87 complaints per 1,000 accounts.
Related links
Glossary
The following definitions have been used in the assembling of this data.
Definitions
Complaint
For the purposes of the complaints detailed in this report, a complaint is defined as being an expression of dissatisfaction which has not been resolved by close of business on the business day following its receipt
Number of complaints received
Detailed here are all complaints received during the reporting period of 1 July to 31 December 2011
Number of complaints closed
A complaint is deemed closed if Barclays has sent a final response letter, the customer has indicated in writing that they accept Barclays earlier response, or the customer has not raised any further concerns within eight weeks of the resolution letter
Complaints closed within eight weeks
This category details complaints that were closed (due to the reasons indicated above) within eight calendar weeks from the date of complaint receipt
Complaints upheld by firm
This category details complaints where the firm has agreed with the customer that their complaint was justified either in whole or in part and, where appropriate, we have offered redress
Categories of banking services and products
Categories of banking services and products have been used in this report. Some examples of what is considered within these categories can be found below:
- Banking: Current accounts, savings accounts, cash and debit cards, credit cards
- Home finance: House mortgages, home income plans, home purchase plans
- General insurance and pure protection: Contents insurance, travel insurance, medical insurance, payment protection insurance
- Decumulation, life and pensions: Annuities, endowments, pension mortgages, pension plans. Decumulation, a term used in this report, describes a process to realise assets (such as shares) into an income stream, often used during retirement
- Investments: Share dealings, unit trusts, ISAs, derivatives.
Notes
Data included refers to complaints both received and closed within the period of the date range
Next publication date: By 31 August 2012 for data from 1 January to 30 June 2012.
Useful links
If you have a query on the products and services you have received from Barclays, please contact us using the links below:
