Teaming up with... AVIVA

Welcome to the UKGI weekly regulation update service for Aviva ABC brokers

We hope you find the Updates useful. If you are
interested in subscribing to our affordable
ABC compliance support package, please
email us at ABC@ukgigroup.com or
call UKGI on our dedicated ABC
contact line 01925 767893.

FCA publishes Spring 2023 Consumer Duty firm survey results

Jun 29, 2023 | FCA

Link(s):Consumer Duty firm survey – Spring 2023 | FCA Consumer Duty: firm preparedness: Wave 1: quantitative research (fca.org.uk)

Context

The FCA has published a summary of, and the results from, its Spring 2023 anonymous survey about how prepared firms were in meeting the implementation deadline.  The survey results are set out in a 48-page document, which includes five pages of scope and context information and thirty-seven pages of graphs and data.

Key points to note

  • Personal and commercial lines insurance intermediaries made up 12.3% (152) of the sample of 1,230 firms, which were from seventeen sub-sectors across six sectors (mainly focussed on SME firms).
  • Overall, the findings confirmed:
  • there were very high levels of engagement and understanding of the Duty, including in many of the sectors where historically regulatory change has had lower levels of engagement;
  • most firms believed they were on course to implement the Duty by the 31 July deadline; and
  • although firms had made use of the support provided by the FCA and found it helpful, two areas that firms said they would like more information on were outcomes monitoring and the price and value outcome.
  • Suggested next steps for firms include:
  • maintaining oversight of implementation plans to ensure they remain on track to deliver on time;
  • making maximum use of the time available, prioritising action that improves consumer outcomes and reduces risks of harm;
  • for firms that have not been taking the Duty seriously and are a long way from meeting its requirements, making strenuous efforts in the next month to accelerate the implementation work, prioritising the work that is likely to have the greatest impact on consumer outcomes; and
  • alerting the FCA if they believe they will be in significant breach of the Duty when it comes into force – such firms should be prepared for the FCA to take robust action where it sees firms’ failure to implement the Duty causing actual or potential harm to consumers.

Next actions

We encourage firms to review at least the summary of the findings, and to take appropriate and proportionate action to ensure that they can meet the requirements of the Duty by the 31st July implementation date.