Complaints about controversial loan protection insurance have grown 39% in the last year. The Financial Services Ombudsman said there were 1,832 complaints about Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) in the 2006/07 financial year compared with 1,315 in the previous year.

PPI covers loans, mortgages and credit cards when individuals cannot make payments because of accident, sickness or some unemployment.

PPI has come under fire from angry customers who say that the insurance is overpriced, mis-sold and unfair in terms of the refunds available if they cancel. This is Money has been campaigning strongly against the mis-selling of PPI for the past year.

Half of the cases that come before the Ombudsman are still related to endowments, but the number of endowment complaints was down by 23,000, from 61% of all disputes in 2006 to 49% in 2007.