Aviva was the subject of a total 1,505 complaints at the Financial Ombudsman Service (Fos) in the second half of last year.
According to the Fos complaints data published today (April 13), Aviva’s complaints figures were split into three: Aviva Equity Release UK, Aviva Insurance Limited and Aviva Life & Pensions.
The data, which was from July 2021 to December 2021, saw Aviva Insurance Limited receive a total of 928 new cases, of which 873 were for general insurance and pure protection, followed by payment protection insurance (42) and decumulation life and pensions (11).
From these new cases, 25 per cent were upheld, with six proactively resolved.
Aviva Life & Pensions had a total of 539 of which more than half (321) were with decumulation and pensions, followed by general insurance (131), investments (51) and mortgages and home finance (35).
From the total, 20 per cent were upheld and within decumulation and pensions this was 23 per cent, investments was 22 per cent and general insurance was 15 per cent.
Of Aviva Equity Release’s total 38 new cases, none of these were upheld.
An Aviva spokesperson said: “Aviva takes complaints about its customer service very seriously and we are committed to providing an excellent service for all our customers. Where we fail to meet customers’ expectations, our first priority is to resolve the matter as quickly as possible and to act on the feedback we receive.
"Although we aim for no complaints, the ones we get represent just 1.35 per 1,000 life policies in the UK.”
Aviva was followed by life and pensions consolidator ReAssure, which was also the subject of hundreds of complaints at the Fos in 2020.
ReAssure was the subject of 419 new complaints, with the bulk of these in decumulation life and pensions (326), investments (51) and general insurance (37).
Of these new cases, 19 per cent were upheld with four proactively resolved. An average 21 per cent of cases were upheld in decumulation life and pensions and 19 per cent in investments.
At the time, a spokesperson for the FCA told FTAdviser it is currently in talks with ReAssure over the claims and it expects all firms to treat customers fairly.
They said: “We are engaging with the firm to understand the reported issues facing customers of ReAssure. Firms must comply with our rules and principles and where they do not, we will take action.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Widows had a total of 302 new cases with 19 per cent upheld.
A spokesperson for the firm said: “While the latest figures show the ombudsman continues to agree with over 80 per cent of our decisions, we are committed to getting it right first time, and working to deliver better outcomes for our customers.”
Liverpool Victoria, which was a combination of LV Financial Services Limited and LV Insurance Company, had a total of 233 new cases with 36 per cent upheld.
LV said: "LV=’s protection team takes customer service very seriously. Only 36 cases were referred to the ombudsman and of those most are protection-related.
"In 2021 LV= paid almost 96 per cent of all personal protection claims paying £119mn to policyholders when they needed it most. However, there was sadly over 4 per cent we couldn’t pay due to reasons like misrepresentation. These figures highlight how important it is to accurately disclose all information within the application process."
Close Brothers Group had 140 new cases with 39 per cent upheld.
In the advice landscape, St James’s Place and Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management were around the same with 100 and 106 respectively.
For SJP, the majority of cases were in decumulation and pensions (38), with 35 per cent upheld, and investments (46) with 27 per cent upheld.
A total of 29 per cent of its cases were upheld.
Hargreaves Lansdown received 77 new cases in investments, of which 17 per cent were upheld, and 27 new cases in decumulation and pensions of which 32 were upheld. A total of 21 per cent of its cases were upheld.
The firm declined to comment when approached by FTAdviser.
FTAdviser approached the other firms for comment but they had not responded at the time of publication.
sonia.rach@ft.com
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