Almost £37m was paid in compensation for pension and decumulation products over H2 2018, a £15.6m increase on the previous six months, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has revealed.

According to its Aggregate complaints data: 2018 H2 published today, 18 April, £36.9m was paid in H2 2018, compared to £21.3m in H1 and £19.9m in H2 2017.

Additionally, decumulation and pension products saw the largest increase in the average compensation paid per upheld complaint between H1 and H2 2018, from £594 to £876.

The increase is the third consecutive rise in compensation paid for the products, with an average of £518 paid in H2 2017.

Despite this, decumulation and pension products only accounted for 1 per cent of the total complaints received by the FCA over 2018.

Non-workplace personal pensions recieved by far and away accounted for the most complaints, with 34,332 in H2 2018, with the next nearest, workplace personal pensions, receiving 9,346 complaints.

Annuities totted up 4,936 complaints, while drawdown and trust-based pensions recieved 3,999 and 2,353, respectively.

Decumulation and pension products received 1.3 complaints per 1,000 policies in H1 2018, rising slightly to 1.4 complaints per 1,000 policies in H2 2018.

This is compared insurance and pure protection (PPI) which accounted for 61 per cent of the complaints received by the regulator, while banking and credit cards made up 33 per cent of the of complaint volumes.

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