Financial complaints soar to record levels It was the most complained-about financial product across all age groups except consumers under 25, who complain most about bank accounts, according to the review. Natalie Ceeney, chief ombudsman, said: "We have seen a much stronger consumer voice in the last year - with people becoming more aware of their rights and less willing to put up with poor customer service." Ms Ceeney said it was "disappointing" that financial businesses "still seem unable to sort out problems themselves." She added: "If customer dissatisfaction remains at these record levels, the challenges we face are likely to continue for the foreseeable future." The ombudsman received more than two million enquiries and complaints in 2012/13, more than 7,000 each working day. It recently announced that it was recruiting 1,000 new staff to handle the unprecedented level of complaints. Over the course of the year, 49pc of cases were upheld by the ombudsman in consumer's favour, including 69pc of complaints relating to PPI. Four of the UK's big banking groups - Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) - accounted for almost two-thirds of all complaints received by the ombudsman, up from 52pc the previous year. Consumer group Which? called for the Financial Conduct Authority to take "tough action" against "any bank found dragging its feet in settling complaints." Executive director Richard Lloyd said: "These shocking figures show the banks are still letting their customers down and failing to help consumers with legitimate claims get the compensation they're rightly owed." Complaints about mortgages went up by one quarter over the year, with the majority of these relating to administrative errors such as incorrect monthly repayment calculations. The ombudsman said it has seen a "significant" increase in people unhappy with the way their lender had treated them when they encountered difficulty repaying the mortgage. These complaints included people who had previously been making payments but had seen their circumstances change, for example because they were facing redundancy. In many cases there was an "absence of clear communication from the lender," the service said. It found lenders' staff often appeared unable to explain clearly to consumers how the mortgage products worked or answer complex questions. Complaints about consumer credit were also up 14pc annually, including an increase in problems with debt collectors. There were also 542 complaints about payday lenders, marking an 83pc year-on-year increase. Many complaints about payday firms involved them unexpectedly draining struggling borrowers' accounts of cash. Despite the increase Ms Ceeney said she did not receive enough complaints about payday loans. "I know there's a lot of problems out there but we are not getting a lot of complaints," she said. There's an awful lot of stigma attached to using payday loans. The ombudsman has the power to intervene if debts are being chased inappropriately, she added.