How to read FCA complaint data

Complaint numbers become useful only when you know who reported them, which product they cover and what sits under the rate.

Start with the denominator

A raw complaint count often reflects company size as much as customer experience. The FCA publishes contextual rates for eligible product groups, such as complaints per 1,000 banking accounts or outstanding balances.

Compare a rate only when the product group, reporting period and denominator match. A home-finance rate and a banking-and-credit-cards rate describe different populations.

The reporter may not be the brand

The FCA row belongs to a regulated legal company. A familiar brand can use that company for some products while another company reports other products.

Behind Your Money keeps brand, legal entity and corporate group separate, and records the scope and validity period of each mapping.

Handling time is a different signal

The share closed within three days describes rapid resolution. Our within-eight-weeks figure combines two FCA-reported handling bands using a deterministic, versioned calculation.

Neither handling measure explains whether a complaint was complex, whether redress was paid or whether the customer accepted the outcome.

Treat upheld percentages as context

An upheld percentage can be affected by complaint mix, operational policy and case complexity. A lower figure is not automatically evidence of a better company.

That is why the site presents upheld complaints neutrally and never blends them into an overall company score.