News & Views

One year on: How Moneysworth embraced Consumer Duty

You may be aware of the Consumer Duty, which was introduced by our regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), on 31^st July 2023.

The Consumer Duty places new obligations on financial services firms to take positive actions to ensure they deliver good outcomes for their clients.

Moneysworth wholeheartedly welcomed the introduction of the Duty. We have always been aware of the importance of treating customers fairly.

We have trained all of our advisers on our expectations of them when servicing clients, and all of our advisers undertake regular ongoing training to ensure they remain up-to-date with developments in our industry. We carry out ongoing internal monitoring of the quality of advice we provide.

We issue Key Facts documents to all clients, which clearly explain:

• Who regulates us
• The range of insurers we will consider
• Whether we will provide advice to you
• How we are remunerated
• How to complain about our service
• The cover offered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for the services we provide, should we cease trading in the future
• How we handle personal data

We issue Suitability Letters to clients for each product we arrange, which cover:

• The type of product purchased
• The name of the insurer
• The individual needs we have addressed by arranging the product for you
• The sum insured – the amount that will be paid out in the event of death or illness
• The premium that you will need to pay
• Details of any shortfalls that remain and other needs that we recommend should be addressed 
• Cancellation rights that apply to the product
• The implications of not receiving advice (should we deal with you on a non-advised basis, but the vast majority of our clients do receive a fully advised service)
• An invitation to contact Moneysworth should you require support or guidance in the future, or should your circumstances change

All of our suitability letters also include a link to the Jargon Buster page of our website. We recognise that financial services terminology can sometimes be confusing. While we endeavour to ensure all of our own communications are free from jargon, we have developed this guide to help you understand the terms you might hear being used by an insurance provider, or by anyone else.