Context
Alan Vallance, the Chartered Insurance Institute’s new chief executive, has urged insurance professionals to make the most of the FCA’s Consumer Duty “to take greater control of our destiny.”
Key points to note
At the Chartered Insurance Institute Shaping the future together conference, Mr Vallance said: “With the new Consumer Duty the FCA has said it wants to measure outcomes rather than inputs. This means that professionals who can demonstrate the value they are providing for consumers could win the freedom to do what works rather than being micro-managed by prescriptive regulation. I think there is a real opportunity here for us to take greater control of our destiny or be passive and wait for the regulator to act.”
During the conference, Ian Searle, head of department, consumer and retail policy of the FCA, said the Consumer Duty was a cornerstone of the regulator’s three-year strategy and a significant shift in what the Regulator expects from firms. He noted that the FCA was looking for evidence of the outcomes of key benefits and changes consumers will get and would tackle groups that are not getting the optimal result from the profession’s services and products. He said: “Hopefully in the long-term this shift should give us scope for a less prescriptive, more flexible regulatory framework overall. I hope you’ll all agree that the Consumer Duty, as a whole, is an excellent opportunity to improve trust and get that customer focus, which many of you are already striving for and deliver good outcomes for customers. Firm’s boards and management will need to work with us to really set the right culture to properly embed the duty in their organisations so that all staff are focused on delivering good outcomes.”
Next actions
None – for information and awareness.