CONSUMER DUTY

Previous implementation of FCA initiatives means URIS Group are well prepared for the required changes and we are working to the first Consumer Duty implementation deadline which falls on the 31 July 2023.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has gradually introduced the new Consumer Duty over the past year in a series of policy announcements. The Consumer Duty sets standards of care that firms are required to give retail customers. The FCA expects enhanced standards of consumer protection by requiring firms to ensure that their products and services are fit for purpose, offer fair value, and help consumers make effective choices. The Consumer Duty is a regulatory duty rather than imposing any new legal duty of care.

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The Consumer Duty identifies the following four areas where the FCA wishes to see good outcomes for retail customers: products and services, price and value, retail customer understanding and customer support. The Consumer Duty also applies rules which cut across those four outcomes as follows: act in good faith, avoid causing foreseeable harm and support customers to pursue their financial objectives.

Having already implemented the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD), which imposed rules requiring firms to act in their customer’s best interests and more recently the implementation of the FCA’s General Insurance Pricing Practices and Fair Value assessments, enhancing product oversight and governance. As a result of this, we are in most cases already complying with many of the new Consumer Duty requirements, especially the requirement to ensure fair value.

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URIS Group have a history of adapting to regulatory environments and maintaining the highest standards of policyholder protection.