THERE was a massive surge last year in complaints from Northern Ireland consumers about products including PPI and payday loans, according to a new report from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
The watchdog said it received 5,377 complaints from people in the north, around half (2,654) of which were about payment protection insurance.
And more than a third (38 per cent) of the total complaints were upheld by the ombudsman service in consumers' favour, the report confirms.
The top five products the FOS looked at in Northern Ireland in the last year were packaged bank accounts (PBA), motor insurance, current accounts, payday loans and payment protection insurance (PPI).
But complaints were also received about catalogue shopping, debt collecting, hiring leasing and renting, point-of-sale loans, credit reference agencies, guarantor loans, and logbook loans (where the borrower's vehicle is put up as security).
In Northern Ireland specifically, more than 44 per cent of the PPI complaints were upheld by the ombudsman (which represented good news for nearly 1,200 complainants).
On payday loans, 223 consumers raised issues with the FOS, with two thirds (65.6 per cent) of the complaints being upheld.
Other headline figures as they impacted on Northern Ireland are
:: PBA – 213 complaints of which 15.24 per cent were upheld;
:: Current Account – 322 complaints of which 22.47 per cent were upheld; and
:: Motor Insurance – 161 of which 34 per cent were upheld
Caroline Wayman, chief executive and chief ombudsman of the FOS, said: "Whilst payment protection insurance (PPI) continues to make up a large proportion of the complaints we see, the most striking story this year has been the rise in complaints we've seen from people having trouble with credit.
"For example, we've seen around three times last year's volumes of complaints about payday loans.
"It's clear that financial difficulties and financial exclusion remain significant challenges for many people.
"The important thing is to speak up if you're struggling.
"Money is often very complicated, and our job is to unravel what's happened and find a fair way to put things right by looking at individual complaints."
A huge clampdown on payday lenders has taken place in recent years, with firms now having limits on the amount of times they can roll a loan over and the amount of interest they can charge, to stop borrowers sinking into a debt spiral.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently announced plans to put the high-cost credit sector under the spotlight.
Debt help charities have been raising concerns over Bank of England figures showing strong annual growth in consumer credit.
Charities have warned that borrowers could be at risk of over-stretching themselves, at a time when living costs have seen some strong rises and wage growth remains stagnant.
The FOS figures come as liquidations in Northern Ireland among individuals and businesses have both shot up in the last year - while more creditors are filing bankruptcy petitions.
According to the Department for the Economy, there were 1,226 liquidations in 2016/17 - up from 1,176 a year earlier.
While total bankruptcies over the 12 months fell slightly (down from 965 to 958), most came via petitions from creditors (581) rather than debtors (377), a huge swing from 2015/16 when is was 483 and 482 respectively.
