UP TO 5000 people are still complaining each week to the financial ombudsman about payment protection insurance, new figures show.

Two-thirds (67 per cent) of all new complaints received by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) between May and June were about PPI. Last year, the ombudsman service said it was dealing with 12,000 complaints a week about PPI, although the number of gripes it is dealing with about this type of insurance is still 50% higher than in 2012.

PPI is the most complained about product that the FOS, which resolves disputes between consumers and fin-ancial firms, has ever seen.

PPI was added to people's loans and credit card agreements without them fully understanding what it was or realising it was there. Such policies aim to help people repay debts if they become ill or lose their job although, in many cases, they were unsuitable for the people who took them out.

Some 56,869 complaints were made about PPI during April, May and June, according to the FOS.

About 61% of PPI cases are being upheld in favour of the consumer, lower than the 65% average during the last couple of years.

The service said it is seeing cases which involve policies sold in a wider range of contexts than before, often making the outcome less clear cut. It is also increasingly being asked to step in at a later stage of a dispute, including cases where it is the settlement, not the mis-sale, that is the point of disagreement.

According to the Financial Conduct Authority's website, £15.1 billion has been paid out over PPI since January 2011.