A list of complaints to the financial ombudsman service was dominated by complaints relating to controversial Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) claims.

During the 2009-10 period nearly a third of new complaint cases were related to PPI. PPI is taken out by customers to help them pay off their loans, credit cards and mortgages should they be made redundant or seriously ill; however they have been highly criticised in recent months for being mis-sold.

The financial ombudsman service received 46% more complaints relating to PPI than in the same period a year previous.

The free service offered by the ombudsman was set up to solve complaints from consumers or businesses on anything financially related. The service resolved a massive 166,321 cases last year out of a total of 925,095 cases, in half of the solved cases customers were awarded compensation as a result of their complaint.

Consumer groups have been some of the most hardened critics of the PPI system warning that policies are often mis-sold to customers.

Despite complaints from banks PPI services may well soon be banned from being sold at the time a loan is taken out, according to the Competition Commission.

The list also featured 15.5% of new cases about current accounts, 11% relating to credit cards, 4.5% about mortgage loans and 4% relating to unsecured loans.

The Chief of the Financial Ombudsman, Natalie Ceeney, said: "In a world of iPhones and Twitter, consumers are becoming increasingly confident.

"They feel more empowered to ask questions, shop around, assert their rights, share information with others - and to complain when they are not happy. More people now expect a two-way conversation - not one-way communication."