Consumer Duty Assessment & Board Report – Mortgage & Insurance

In compliance with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requirements, it is essential for all firms to conduct an Annual Assessment and produce a Board Report to ensure adherence to the Consumer Duty standards and the delivery of positive outcomes for customers. Please note, it is not necessary to submit a copy of the report to the FCA; it is for internal purposes only, similar to the requirement to produce management information.

A key component of the report is assessing, testing and evidencing the outcomes customers are receiving. This includes:

• Monitoring that the products and service provided remains suitable for the firms target market;
• Monitoring the outcomes customers are experiencing to ensure the products and service provided is what the customer expects;
• Identifying distinct groups of customers, such as those with characteristics of vulnerability or those who share protected characteristics;
• Ensuring customers with characteristics of vulnerability are not receiving worse outcomes;
• Identifying if the products and service provided is leading to poor outcomes or harm to customers; and
• Taking appropriate action if issues arise or products do not meet good customer outcomes.

Before the implementation of the Consumer Duty, we considered developing a separate document focused solely on Consumer Duty. However, after thorough review of the FCA papers, we found significant overlaps with the Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) framework and our TCF GAP Analysis. Consequently, we integrated these elements into a single Consumer Duty Assessment and TCF GAP Analysis, which is still available for purchase on our website. This combined report follows our original GAP Analysis structure.

In response to numerous requests, we have developed a new Consumer Duty Assessment and Board Report. This comprehensive Board Report includes an assessment to evaluate the firm’s compliance with each of the required outcomes. To aid you, we have included numerous examples for each section. Please note that these examples are not mandatory; they are merely options to consider based on their relevance to your firm. Additionally, the report features guidance text in red italics to clarify the requirements for each area. Upon completing the report, your firm should have a clear understanding of its current compliance status and any additional measures that could be implemented.

FORMAT: All documents are downloadable via email upon receipt of payment.