| |
|
| complaint
trends |
| 4.1
|
As
we are acutely aware, predicting the numbers of new complaints is
not an exact science. It can be affected by many different factors,
including the firm’s attitude to a certain type of complaint,
the state of the economy and the stock market, and media coverage.
Given the unexpected increase in complaints this year, we will particularly
value feedback on our workload assumptions.
|
| 4.2 |
We
have tried in the past to validate our assumptions about the likely
numbers of future complaints by talking to the FSA, industry bodies,
consumer groups and firms. These discussions are a valuable source
of information for us, and we have decided to formalise this information-gathering
by recruiting a new member of staff, whose role will be to analyse
external and internal data, with the aim of increasing the accuracy
of our forecasting.
The external issues that we expect to have an impact on the level
of complaints during the next 18 months include: |
| |
| 4.2.1
|
mortgage
endowments
We expect to continue to receive complaints at a similar level
as at present until the second half of 2004/05, when we expect
a slow reduction. This likely reduction in the number of complaints
will be driven by a number of factors including: |
|
new
rules waivers given to some firms by the FSA, and a return to
normal complaint-handling timescales for other firms; |
|
a
reducing pool of mortgage endowment policyholders who have not
yet complained; and |
|
time
limits that will begin to bite, rendering potential complaints
“out-of-time”. |
| |
|
| 4.2.2
|
single
premium investment bonds (including “precipice”
bonds)
The number of complaints has increased significantly in 2003/04,
and we expect to receive a significant number in 2004/05 as
more of these bonds reach maturity. |
| |
|
| 4.2.3 |
insurance and mortgage intermediaries
The information given to us by these intermediaries’ trade
associations suggests that we will not see a large number of
new complaints from these firms, as a proportion of the total
number of complaints we receive. |
| |
|
| 4.2.4
|
voluntary
jurisdiction
At present, about 300 firms have joined our voluntary jurisdiction,
250 of which will move into our compulsory jurisdiction in 2004/05.
We do not expect these firms to produce a significant number
of complaints during the year. |
|
| |
|
| 4.3 |
customer
contact division (CCD) |
| |
Each week our customer contact division (CCD) – our initial
contact point for consumers – handles around 6,000 phone calls
and 5,000 pieces of correspondence. In line with our objective of
resolving issues at the earliest appropriate stage, we are able to
resolve the vast majority of enquiries in CCD and they are never converted
to “chargeable cases”. This year, the total number of
contacts made to CCD will have increased by 20% compared with 2002/03,
largely as a result of the increase in mortgage endowment complaints.
We expect a modest reduction in 2004/05, as mortgage endowment-related
queries start to decline. |
| |
|
| 4.4
|
In
the main, we have managed the increased workload in CCD through
further improvements in efficiency, although we have also recruited
more staff. The restructuring of CCD, together with continued staff
training and development, and the increasing reliability of our
resource planning processes, has enabled the division to make significant
improvements in the standards of service, as well as coping with
the additional work. Over 85% of calls are now answered within 20
seconds, with just 1% of calls being abandoned. Twelve months ago,
57% of calls were answered within 20 seconds and 8% of calls were
abandoned. Similar improvements have been made in the processing
of correspondence.
Consumers
have recognised these improvements – 94% of those who responded
to our satisfaction surveys said that they found it easy to contact
us and 91% said they were happy with the way that CCD dealt with
their enquiry. |
| |
|
| 4.5
|
Phone
and written contacts have increased by 20% over
2002/03, but we expect the level of contacts to fall in 2004/05, in
line with our assumptions about levels of new complaints. |
| |
|
| |
actual
2002/03 |
forecast
2003/04 |
budget
2004/05 |
calls
to our enquiry line
(0845 080 1800) |
265,554 |
298,000 |
283,000 |
| new
written enquiries |
196,786 |
257,000 |
231,000 |
| total |
462,340 |
555,000 |
514,000 |
|
| |
|
| 4.6 |
analysis
of new complaints |
| |
Because
of the difficulties in forecasting complaint volumes, we are assuming
that the underlying volumes will remain constant for 2004/05 and 2005/06,
except for a fall in complaints about mortgage endowments. We have
assumed an increase of 5,000 complaints in 2005/06, following the
extension of our jurisdiction to insurance and mortgage intermediaries.
In our assumptions, we have also allowed for an additional 4,000 complaints
to cover product areas that have not so far generated any significant
number of complaints to us. |
| |
|
| type
of complaint |
actual
2002/03 |
forecast
2003/04 |
budget
2004/05 |
plan
2005/06 |
endowment
policies linked
to mortgages |
13,570 |
50,000
|
35,000
|
15,000 |
| single
premium investment bonds |
2,631 |
6,000
|
4,000
|
2,000 |
|
pension products |
7,233
|
5,000 |
5,000 |
5,000 |
|
mortgage loans |
2,903
|
3,000
|
3,000
|
3,500 |
split
capital investment trusts
|
2,233
|
3,000
|
2,000 |
0 |
non
mortgage endowments/
whole-of-life policies |
5,009
|
4,000 |
4,000 |
4,500 |
| motor
insurance |
2,372 |
2,750 |
3,000 |
3,000 |
|
current accounts |
1,602
|
1,700
|
1,800
|
1,900 |
| buildings/contents
insurance |
2,294
|
2,750
|
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
travel insurance |
1,088
|
1,400
|
1,400
|
1,500 |
| dual
variable rate mortgages |
6,535
|
500
|
0
|
0 |
| mortgage
and general insurance intermediaries |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5,000 |
| "new"
types of complaint |
0 |
0
|
4,000 |
4,000 |
| other
complaints |
14,700
|
17,900
|
16,800
|
19,600 |
| total |
62,170
|
98,000
|
83,000 |
68,000 |
|
|
