* Overall complaints down 7 percent to 151,000
* Insurance complaints down 21 percent to 91,300
* General bank complaints up 29 percent to 55,000
* Mortgage complaints up 18 percent to 2,700 (Adds banking and mortgage complaints, comment)
By Matt Scuffham
LONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - British bank Barclays said it had seen an increase in complaints relating to itsbanking services and mortgages in the third quarter of the year,although complaints about the mis-selling of loan insurancedeclined.
Barclays, which has 48 million customers, said totalcomplaints fell by 7 percent to 151,000, compared with the sameperiod a year ago.
That included a 21 percent fall in complaints aboutinsurance to 91,300, the vast majority of which related to themis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI) in Britain.
Barclays said the increase in mortgage and bankingcomplaints was "wholly unacceptable".
General banking complaints rose by 29 percent to 55,000.Barclays said the increase was driven largely by claimsmanagement companies, which take a cut of whatever compensationthey obtain for customers.
Complaints about mortgages rose by 18 percent to 2,700,which the bank said was due to growth in the number ofapplications that it handles.
British banks have so far set aside more than 23 billionpounds to compensate customers mis-sold PPI. The policies weresupposed to protect borrowers against sickness or redundancy butwere often sold to those who would be ineligible to claim. (Editing by Keith Weir and Pravin Char)
Barclays (BARC)
