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Nearly three million savers with personal pensions designed to protect them from stock market turmoil have been left up to 45?per cent worse off than people who retired five years ago.

The Financial Ombudsman Service has raised concerns about the levels of complaints it is receiving about reviewable whole of life policies.

Barclays clocked up the most complaints of any UK bank in the first half of 2011 at an astonishing rate of one every minute.

The latest episode of BBC One’s Watchdog programme featured claims management companies who deal with payment protection insurance complaints. As with any industry there are good and bad companies and we work hard to ensure that we are one of the good!

That is why we are pleased that Watchdog has highlighted some of the companies in the industry who are doing consumers an injustice.

Britain's biggest High Street banks are fobbing off legitimate customer grievances as complaints surge to record levels.

Customer complaints against one of Britain’s biggest banks soared by as much as 75 per cent in the first half of this year, it has emerged.

Every year EMCAS takes part and organises numerous fundraising events for various charities. In the year ending March 2010, EMCAS employees raised over £2,500 for charities such as Help for Heroes, Children in Need, Hospicare and Sports Relief.

In 2011 we are focusing even closer to home in Torbay, a staff pole determined  that this year EMCAS will be fundraising and supporting Mayfield Special School and Rowcroft Hospice. In addition to raising money for these two worthy causes our employees are also offering their time to pro-actively assist in any projects they may have ongoing.

The latest fund raising event, a corporate football tournament has raised £313.05 for Mayfield School and this money will go towards equipment that the school is looking to purchase.

With other fundraising events such as coffee mornings, cake sales and a Casino night already planned for this year EMCAS are aiming to beat last year’s fundraising total!

Source: EMCAS Events & Charity Team

Since the banks admitted defeat in the PPI judicial review earlier this year they have been inundated with a deluge of complaints and as a result of this sudden increase the banks are struggling.

Many small investors will know the drill. You go in to do some simple banking and are offered a financial review due to a decent savings sum in your account.

EMCAS has been advised that Lloyds TSB customers will expect to receive a final decision letter relating to their Payment Protection Insurance complaint by the end of August 2011. If you have already received such correspondence from Lloyds TSB, further to the complaint we have raised on your behalf, please forward a copy of the letter to us for review.

It has recently been brought to EMCAS’ attention that due to the high volume of complaints currently being upheld by MBNA the processing of cheques for compensation payments is currently taking longer than the timeframe outlined in their final decision letter (28 days for the cheque to be issued). The latest update from MBNA is that all outstanding cheques should be issued in the next 7-10 days.

We are in constant contact with MBNA to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and we will keep you updated with any further developments as and when they arise.

Further to the recent Panorama report ‘Can you trust your bank?, which investigated the mis-selling of investment products by high street banks such as Lloyds, Abbey National (now Santander), HSBC and Barclays, EMCAS have taken steps to ensure we are able to meet the expected surge in complaints.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) have taken action against banks taking too long in dealing with Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) complaints that were originally placed on hold as a result of the Judicial Review.

After the bailouts, the bonuses and the multi-million pound fines for mis-selling products, Britain banks say they have cleaned house and are working hard to rebuild reputations and regain customers' trust. As Panorama's Penny Haslam reports, it is an uphill battle.

Some of the biggest high street banks are today accused of misleading customers over how to invest their life savings.

Consumer campaigner Which? says that the banking complaints system needs to change.

Bank of Scotland has been hit with the largest fine ever imposed by the Financial Services Authority for complaints mis-handling after the lender was found to have wrongly rejected nearly half of all the complaints it received between 2007 and 2009.

As you may have seen in the media recently the British Bankers Association who represents the UK Banking Industry lost the Judicial Review in April and have decided not to appeal the decision, the banks have subsequently made a provision of £9 billion for compensation.

Investors using with-profits pension plans continue to see their chances of a comfortable retirement wrecked by lower-than-anticipated returns.

A record one million consumers complained about shoddy treatment by banks, insurance companies and financial advisers in the past year.

Up to 1.5million homeowners could be lumbered with a mortgage greater than the value of their home, as property prices plunge.

The cost of new mortgage deals fell sharply this week as banks engaged in a rate-cutting war.

Britain's big banks have abandoned a controversial appeal over payment protection insurance, opening the way for billions of pounds in compensation for those mis-sold policies.

We are awaiting the BBA’s decision on whether or not they will appeal the decision by the Courts to quash the Judicial Review which we do not expect to have confirmation of until 10^th May 2011.

Encouragingly, Lloyds TSB, who also represent Halifax/Bank of Scotland have stated they are now withdrawing from the ongoing Judicial Review

Credit card providers struggling for revenue are raising interest rates on their cards, despite a static Bank base interest rate.

Further to the judicial review surrounding the British Bankers Association (BBA) case against the Financial Services Authority (FSA) regarding complaint handling practices in Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) complaints, EMCAS is pleased to report that the FSA have won and the BBA’s argument has been dismissed on all counts.

A High Court judge gives his ruling today in a challenge brought over new regulations to control the selling of payment protection insurance (PPI) to borrowers.

Some of Britain’s biggest banks, including Halifax and Santander, continue to pay less to some Isa savers than to those in taxable fixed-rate accounts.

Payouts on 25-year endowment policies have dropped below £23,000 for the first time, new figures reveal. 

Chancellor George Osbornes's "pro-growth, pro-jobs"

Britain's big five banks doubled the profits they made from their High Street customers last year - at the same time as complaints went through the roof.

Investors who were persuaded to put money into with-profits bonds would have been better off sticking with savings accounts, Money Mail research has discovered.

Sales of the controversial payment protection insurance accounted for more than half of new complaints dealt with by the Financial Ombudsman

Customers can pay £9,000 for 'services' that others get for free!

Britain's biggest bank received nearly 330,000 complaints in the second half of 2010 – but insists its performance is improving.

Thousands of homeowners who were sold mortgages they could not afford are in line for a £1.5 million payout.

Hundreds of thousands of home owners who took out a Halifax mortgage during the property boom are to receive £500 million in compensation.

Payouts on endowment policies have crashed by 75 pc since the late Eighties and early Nineties when most were sold.

As you may have heard in the press there is currently legal action between the British Bankers Association (the BBA), the Financial Services Authority (the FSA) and the Financial Ombudsman Service (the FOS). This action is known as a judicial review.