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Consumer Duty Annual Assessment

Are you ready for 31st July? For further guidance and support, click here.

 
 

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CONSUMER DUTY...

Consumer Duty Annual Assessmeent report deadline

The Consumer Duty is a collective term for a new FCA Principle and set of rules and guidance, which FCA have designed to improve the focus of firms on customer outcomes and to reduce instance of customer harm.

The Consumer Duty took effect from July 2023, the Consumer Duty represents one of the biggest regulatory rule implementations of recent times and will likely have a significant effect on the way the market works and on how the FCA approach regulation over the coming years.

The FCA felt that there were practises in various parts of the financial services industry which were acting counter to customer interests, but which weren’t definitely outside of the letter of the pre-existing rules and covers retail activities for all regulated firms. It doesn’t cover unregulated business or activities not involving retail customers.

The Duty applies across the distribution chain from product manufacturers right the way down to product distribution and firms undertaking post-sale activities. This will include firms who do not have a direct relationship with the end customer but can have an impact on the outcomes that these customers get.

Download the TMA Consumer Duty Guide here

CONSUMER DUTY ANNUAL ASSESSMENT SERIES

The FCA requires firms to finalise their Annual Assessment (Board) Report by 31st July 2024, documenting any changes made to their business.

TMA have provided all compliance users, access to a document containing guidance and a checklist to support you with your report. Click here to access the vault and download your copy now.

If you’re not a current compliance user, get in touch with the Broker Support team on 0330 303 0236 for more information about our compliance offering.

To help prepare you for the Consumer Duty Annual Assessment deadline (31st July), our Development Director, Lisa Martin has hosted a series of mini videos interviewing LSL’s Compliance Operations Director, Martin Sykes.

EPISODE 1 PRODUCTS AND Services

Episode 1 focuses on one of the four Consumer Duty outomces, Products and Services. This mini video highlights;

  • Why businesses need to focus on the annual assessment
  • Products and services processes and firm risk management
  • Consumer outcomes
  • Lenders fair value assessments

EPISODE 2 price and value

Episode 2 focuses on one of the second Consumer Duty outomce, Price and value. This episode highlights;

  • The FCA’s view on marketing products where there is little value or the price was high for the value
  • Broker and lender fees commected to different types of products
  • Discrimination with customers via phone, email or face to face
  • ‘Can you get the same product or service for significantly less elsewhere?’

EPISODE 3 Consumer understanding

Episode 3 focuses on one of the four Consumer Duty outomces, Customer Understanding. This highlights;

  • Use clear, presise language with little to no jargan
  • What to do differently or imporve on to ensure customers have a good understanding
  • Use post sales surveys and feedback

EPISODE 4 Customer Support

Episode 4 covers customer support, Martin casts our minds abck to last year when consumer duty came into effect. This video highlights;

  • Past videos and how support can ease these areas of consumer duty outcomes
  • Can you highlight how your firm identify, how you have changed support and record vulnerable customers?
  • Service complaints
  • Large firms offering a online services

EPISODE 4 Customer Support

Episode 5 focuses on your questions, answered. Our fifth video answeres the questions;

  • Is it Mandatory?
  • How is Treating Customers Fairly different to Consumer Duty?
  • Do I have to evidence my fees? How?
  • How do I show my firm understands and treats vulnerable customers differently?

Partner – Fair Value Assessments

As of April 2023 all lenders and protection providers should have completed a Fair Value Assessment sheet, a document that contains all the necessary information you need to understand products and how they meet the four consumer duty outcome rules (Products & Services, Price & value, consumer understanding & consumer support) for their existing products and services. They must share with mortgage clubs to meet their obligations under the Duty, and identify where changes need to be made.

To help you navigate the Fair Value Assessments, TMA have collated all relevant information into one helpful website page.

Click here to find out some of the changes being made to meet the requirements of Consumer Duty. 

Pease note all these documents are for intermediary use only and are not intended to be provided to customers.

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