FOS and FCA move to modernise redress system

Creating stability for consumers and businesses as well as tackling mass complaint issues are the drivers behind a new ‘Call for Input’ that has been jointly launched between the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today.

While the current system works well for individual complaints about specific issues, sudden and significant increases in complaints can cause firms to struggle to effectively respond, delaying any customer redress that may be due. The problem can be intensified if large numbers of complaints are submitted on behalf of consumers by professional representatives.

The FCA and FOS are seeking views on how to prevent financial issues leading to a spike in complaints and creating uncertainty for firms and their customers. The announcement comes as the Chancellor, during her first Mansion House Speech, called for greater synergy between the FCA and FOS to create more predictability for financial firms so they can invest, innovate and deliver sustainable economic growth.

Together the FCA and FOS want the Call for Input to help ensure that:

• Consumers receive appropriate redress when things go wrong.
• Firms identify harm at an early stage, proactively address it, and resolve complaints more effectively themselves, reducing the need for consumers to complain to us.
• Redress issues can be identified earlier so they can be resolved swiftly and efficiently.
• Communications with consumer and industry stakeholders are improved, making it quicker and easier to flag matters with wider market implications.

Today’s Call for Input makes it clear that an effective redress system is vital for consumer protection, market integrity and competition, as well as the FCA’s secondary objective to facilitate the international competitiveness and growth of the UK economy.

The Dispute Resolution (DISP) rules which dictate how firms and FOS handle complaints were last reviewed ten years ago – since then the landscape has changed significantly with several mass redress events and increasing levels of complaints brought by professional representatives.

The Call for Input will be an opportunity to explore ways to bring the rules up to date, helping create an effective redress framework fit for the future. It will primarily interest consumers and groups representing consumer interests, policy makers and other regulatory bodies, and firms and industry bodies.

The FCA also want to hear from industry advisers and consultancies, experts and commentators, academics and think tanks, and PRs to consumers making complaints.

The Call for Input closes on 30 January 2025. Responses will be summarised and next steps will be published in the first half of 2025.