Following an earlier consultation period, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its final Consumer Duty rules on 27 July 2022.
These new rules aim to improve how firms serve consumers by setting higher and clearer standards of consumer protection across financial services and require firms to put their customers’ needs first.
In this blog, we look at what’s changed from the draft rules and some important timelines to ensure you’re compliant.
What are the key points?
- The Consumer Duty introduces a new Consumer Principle which requires firms to act to deliver good outcomes for customers
- The FCA has reverted to its original wording from the first consultation where it requires firms to “avoid causing foreseeable harm to customers”
- The implementation deadline for compliance has been extended from 30 April to 31 July 2023 (31 July 2024 for closed products which are no longer being sold)
- By the end of October this year, implementation plans should have been delivered and approved by firm’s Boards, with appropriate evidence of review and scrutiny to make sure the plans are appropriate and robust
- Firms should expect to be asked to share these plans with the FCA
It may sound like you have a long time, but there could be many changes needed to ensure compliance with the Consumer Duty, so it’s important to get started as soon as possible and review any progress to date to ensure any changes in the final rules are reflected in your plans.
Where should you start?
Here’s where we think it would be useful to start when reviewing your collections operation:
Need some more advice?
For over two decades, organisations have been choosing Arum to help them ensure compliance with regulations, improve customer treatments, and execute strategic, operational, and technical changes within collections and recoveries.
If you’re not sure where to start, feel free to contact us – we would be happy to speak to you!
Read our comprehensive guide to Consumer Duty
About the author
Nick Walsh
Principal Consultant
Arum
Nick is a collections and recoveries professional with over 30 years’ experience, domestically and internationally. He has enabled many organisations, large and small, across multiple sectors, to fast track to an optimal operating model designed specifically for each organisation, taking into account their constraints and with due regard to regulatory compliance and customer experience.