Our CMC annual complaints data is a snapshot of our work over the course of the financial year. It shows the volume of complaints we received and resolved about claims management companies, and the proportion of complaints we upheld in consumers’ favour.

Data for financial year 2020/21

CMC enquiries

CMC products and services Enquiries
CMC payment protection insurance (PPI) 1,193
CMC Accident Management 235
CMC Financial Product and Services 84
CMC Short-term Lending 55
CMC Consumer Credit 52
CMC Personal Injury 27
CMC Investments 24
CMC Packaged Bank Accounts 19
CMC Housing Disrepair 11
CMC Lead Generation <10
CMC Employment <10
CMC Benefits <10
CMC Endowments <10
CMC Pensions <10
CMC Connected lender liability <10
CMC Criminal Injury <10
Other CMC enquiries 600
Total CMC enquiries 2,335

CMC new cases

CMC products and services New cases
CMC payment protection insurance (PPI) 751
CMC Accident Management 231
CMC Short-term Lending 38
CMC Consumer Credit 22
CMC Packaged Bank Accounts 16
CMC Investments 12
CMC Lead Generation <10
CMC Personal Injury <10
CMC Employment <10
CMC Housing Disrepair <10
CMC Endowments <10
CMC Pensions <10
CMC Criminal Injury <10
CMC Financial Product and Services <10
CMC Connected lender liability <10
CMC Benefits -
Other CMC new complaints 11
Total CMC new complaints 1,113

CMC resolved by – stage

CMC products and services Resolutions Resolved without ombudsman involvment Resolved by an ombudsman
CMC Payment Protection Insurance 781 137 644
CMC Accident Management 323 52 271
CMC Short-term Lending 37 12 25
CMC Consumer Credit 31 <10 25
CMC Investments 16 <10 11
CMC Packaged Bank Accounts 13 <10 11
CMC Employment <10 <10 <10
CMC Pensions <10 <10 <10
CMC Personal Injury <10 <10 <10
CMC Benefits <10 <10 <10
CMC Lead Generation <10 - <10
CMC Connected lender liability <10 <10 <10
CMC Financial Product and Services <10 <10 <10
CMC Criminal Injury <10 <10 <10
Other CMC resolutions <10 - <10
Total CMC resolutions 1,228 223 1,005

CMC uphold %

CMC products and services Uphold rate
CMC payment protection insurance (PPI) 37%
CMC Accident Management 56%
CMC Financial Product and Services -
CMC Short-term Lending 37%
CMC Consumer Credit -
CMC Personal Injury -
CMC Investments -
CMC Packaged Bank Accounts -
CMC Housing Disrepair -
CMC Lead Generation -
CMC Employment -
CMC Benefits -
CMC Endowments -
CMC Pensions -
CMC Connected lender liability -
CMC Criminal Injury -
Other CMC uphold rate -
Overall CMC uphold rate 40%

Interpreting the data

Cumulative figures

Cumulative figures, such as our quarterly data, won't necessarily match total figures provided in the tables for the year so far. This is because the data for each quarter is a snapshot of what the figures looked like at the end of that quarter.

It's possible that as cases are investigated further, we may refine how the case is categorised to better reflect what the complaint was about.

This will be captured in our cumulative figures but our previous quarterly datasets won't be updated. Therefore when referring to our annual figures, please use the data on this page rather than our cumulative published quarterly totals.

Glossary of terms

Enquiries

An enquiry is recorded when a consumer contacts us for the first time to explain the problem they’re having. Some of these enquiries go on to become new complaints we investigate in more depth. At enquiry stage, it’s likely we’ll have heard only from the consumer, and we might not yet know the specific product or service involved. So the product categorisation may change at a later stage in our process, once we’ve received further information.

New complaints

A new complaint is recorded when an initial enquiry becomes a complaint we’re going to investigate in more depth. We record information about the financial product or service the consumer is complaining about, as well as the issue involved.

Resolutions

A resolution is a case that we've closed during the year. This includes complaints where we’ve given our answer following an investigation, as well as a smaller number that have been withdrawn by the consumer, or that we’ve decided we can’t or shouldn’t investigate. This data includes complaints resolved informally by one of our investigators or adjudicators, as well as those where an ombudsman’s involvement was required. 

Uphold rate

This is the proportion of complaints we’ve resolved where the answer we’ve given is in consumers’ favour. When we “uphold” a complaint, it can reflect one of two things. First, it can mean that a business told a consumer in its final response that it had done nothing wrong – but after the complaint was referred to us, we decided that it had done something wrong. Or it can mean that a business’s final response offered the consumer compensation – but after the complaint was referred to us, we decided it hadn’t offered enough, and told it to change its offer.

To ensure our uphold rate data are as meaningful as possible, we only include products and services about which we resolved 30 or more complaints over the course of the year.