Our response to the FCA's guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable consumers
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently released draft guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable consumers, and asked for views on this.
We have welcomed the draft guidance, and the ambition to improve outcomes for vulnerable consumers.
The guidance makes it clear to firms that simply identifying vulnerability is not enough; they must take action to understand and meet the needs of their customers, and actively avoid causing them harm.
However, our response also highlights our concerns about the status of the guidance being strong enough to ensure firms prioritise supporting vulnerable consumers.
We argued for more detail in the revised guidance on how this will be used in supervision and enforcement, to ensure firms comply with their obligations and achieve better outcomes for vulnerable consumers.
We also urged the FCA to continue to review what other actions may be needed to achieve this – including giving further consideration to the role of a duty of care.
Download our response