* Complaints about loan insurance down 16.6 percent
* Overall complaints against banks down 2.1 percent (Adds details)
LONDON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Britain's financial regulatorsaid complaints about the mis-selling of loan insurance by banksand other financial firms fell by 16.6 percent in the first halfof 2015, compared to the previous six months.
The data, published on Wednesday, will raise financialindustry hopes of an imminent end to Britain's costliestconsumer finance scandal, for which banks have set aside 28billion pounds ($42.53 billion) to compensate customers.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is considering whethera deadline should be introduced for customers claimingcompensation for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance(PPI) and is expected to publish its recommendation shortly.
PPI policies were supposed to protect borrowers againstsickness or redundancy, but were often sold to those who wouldhave been ineligible to claim. Banks made billions of poundsfrom the policies, which were often aggressively sold.
The FCA said overall complaints against banks decreased by2.1 percent, reflecting the decline in PPI cases. Excluding PPI,complaints against banks increased by 11.6 percent.
The regulator said PPI was the most complained aboutproduct, followed by personal current accounts, other generalinsurance complaints, credit cards and savings products.Barclays was the most complained about bank, ahead ofLloyds, NatWest and HSBC. ($1 = 0.6583 pounds) (Reporting by Matt Scuffham, editing by Sinead Cruise andAdrian Croft)