On 27 July 2023, the FCA, Bank of England (BoE) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) published a joint Policy Statement, PS23/12, PS10/23: Complaints against the Regulators.

Background

The FCA, PRA and BoE (the Regulators) have a joint Complaints Scheme (the Scheme) under the Financial Services Act 2012. The Scheme covers the complaints procedures for the Regulators and also describes the role of the independent Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner.

In July 2020, the Regulators launched a consultation with the aim of proposing a revised Scheme that was more user-friendly, using plain language to make it more understandable. This was in part a

response to recommendations made by the former Complaints Commissioner to consult on improving the Scheme and, in particular, to clarify the Regulators’ approach to compensatory payments. This joint Policy Statement sets out the Regulators’ response to the feedback received to the consultation and details of the final changes to the Scheme which are being introduced.

Consultation feedback

The feedback to the consultation included the following:

  • A large proportion of respondents did not support all the proposals concerning compensatory payments in recognition of financial loss. In particular, the proposals to introduce limits on compensatory payments, save for exceptional circumstances, were not welcomed. Several of the more detailed responses, mainly from organisations, also raised objections to the use of the ‘sole or primary’ cause condition when considering a payment in recognition of financial loss.
  • Respondents were generally supportive of the proposals in relation to compensatory payments for non-financial loss. Some respondents expressed the view that the Regulators should keep the levels under review.
  • The Regulators received supportive overall feedback about the language being more understandable than the language in the current Scheme. Respondents told the Regulators that the diagrams proposed in the consultation were a useful addition.

Final changes and implementation

The Regulators have made changes to the proposals to reflect the feedback received where they agreed it would improve the accessibility of the revised Scheme and help to clarify the Regulators’ approach to compensatory payments. The revised Scheme will come into force on 1 November 2023.