Firms must ‘do the right thing’ – if they don’t, you can complain 

We should all have high expectations of financial firms – after all, they’re usually the ones looking after our money. However, with the not-too-distant memories of the financial crash and huge mis-selling scandals, trust levels are still in recovery mode. 

To help, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA, the industry regulator) has issued new rules for financial service providers to follow – called the Consumer Duty. This essentially means firms should always help you make good financial decisions, and states:  

• products and services must offer value, be right for you and be easy to cancel 
• key information must be clear and not buried in complex documents 
  
• customer support must be helpful and easy to contact  
  
• firms must help if you’re struggling or have a problem.  
  

Provided the account, product or service you have is still available for new customers, these rules apply. However, even if you have an older ‘off-sale’ product, firms should still treat you fairly – so you should have similar expectations.  

Whether you’re a financial whizz monitoring your accounts daily, or the thought of managing money sends you to sleep, we all want our best interests looked after. Yet in the past some firms’ selling tactics have occasionally taken advantage of those with a lack of knowledge, especially if they don’t know how to switch. 

For example, the top savings rates have been steadily increasing over the past two years or so – some up tenfold. Yet you’d need to be a savvy saver to take advantage, proactively moving your money to different accounts, as many banks leave customers on low rates.   

To crack down on this, the Consumer Duty is designed to make sure companies are selling the right products to the right people, and regularly checking they’re still suitable.  

Its fair value rule has already been used to hold savings providers accountable for not passing on increased rates to customers. As part of this, firms must explain how each account represents good value to customers. 

The ‘fair value’ rule doesn’t mean the product or service has to be best in the market, a firm just can’t offer poor value. So while this should mean that you are offered a fair price, you’ll still be better off comparing deals from different providers.  

See our guide to using comparison sites for full help.  

The first thing to do if you’re worried about making repayments, such as your credit card bill, is to contact your provider to avoid falling into debt.  

Under the Consumer Duty they should provide helpful and accessible consumer support and will take time to understand your situation and come up with ways they can help you. We've full help in our Talking to your creditor guide. 

However, if you have already missed a payment for a priority bill like your mortgage, council tax or others you may benefit from professional debt advice.  

Under the Consumer Duty, firms should be easy to contact, with helpful customer support. So if you feel let down by your provider, don’t sit in silence. Instead, follow these steps:  

1. Contact customer services. This should be your first port of call, letting them know why you’re unhappy and what you’d like them to do to put things right. If you can’t agree on a resolution, then 
2. Ask to make a formal complaint. The company then has eight weeks to investigate and give you their final response. If you’re unhappy with this, or the timeframe has passed, you can
   
3. Take your complaint to the free Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). You’ll get an independent decision on whether the firm’s response was fair or if they need to do more. The FOS complaints checkerOpens in a new window will show if your case is covered. 
   

For more information, see our full how to complain guide.