Complaints over payment protection insurance rose by 40% in the second half of last year to 1.55 million, the highest level in more than four years, the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority said Thursday. Financial institutions have paid £30 billion ($43 billion) since January 2011 in related compensation, the watchdog said in a statement. In January this year, firms paid out £415.8 million, the highest figure since March 2016. "Having set a deadline for PPI complaints, we are encouraging consumers to decide whether they want to claim, and if they do, to make their complaint as soon as possible, as many already have," said Christopher Woolard, the FCA's executive director of strategy and competition, in a statement. The regulator has set a deadline of Aug. 29, 2019, for consumers to lodge grievances about missold insurance coverage. Objections over PPI led a 13% rise in overall complaints made to financial services firms in the second half of 2017.