Together. Better.
The Consumer Duty is a new regulation set out by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and due to come into effect from July 2023. The duty is aimed at creating higher standards for consumers and improving competition in the retail financial services market. Within the motor retail sector, this will predominantly impact companies and dealerships providing financing and regulated insurance products.
Making meaningful, customer centric, changes is the focus of our work right now in the run up to its implementation. We have been making both large and small changes across all areas of our business. We are congratulating ourselves on things we already do well in but also, we are holding up the mirror to ourselves and recognising where we can, should and will do more. Our goal is to reach our greatest potential.
Between now and July 2023 you will continue to see reviews, updates, product amendments, changes to processes and documents etc. that ensure we are adhering to the FCA's guidance and embracing the changes they foresee for our industry as a whole. We have fully embraced the impending Consumer Duty here at AG; we see the value in it and the huge cultural and operational shift it will have on our industry. We will also shortly be asking for feedback from specific areas of our business, from our internal staff all the way out to our end-customers. This valuable feedback will assist us further in ensuring we are compliant with the new expectations, are continually foreseeing any harm and delivering good outcomes for all.
Following the announcement of the new Consumer Duty regulation, Autoguard Group’s Risk and Compliance Officer, Stevie Luxton discusses our plans to improve how we serve our customers.
“When new legislation or regulation is announced its all too easy to see the negatives; the work required, the hours of input, the costs, the meetings, the processes, the implementation, and the need to educate and motivate staff to make these important changes, I could go on. Here at Autoguard Group we have fully embraced the impending Consumer Duty; we see the value in it and the huge cultural and operational shift it will have on our industry. We very much welcome it!
Making meaningful, customer centric, changes is the focus of our work right now, up to its implementation and in the long run. We have been making both large and small changes across all areas of our business. We are congratulating ourselves on things we already do well in but also, we are holding up the mirror to ourselves and recognising where we can, should and will do more. We want to reach our greatest potential.
Our goal is to create a shift in the expectations of ourselves and our culture, setting even higher expectations for the standard of care we give customers at every point in their journey. We are setting the stage for these changes starting right at the top with our Board and letting this infiltrate down into all areas and departments and then out into our wider network and distribution chain.
At Autoguard, our ethos is to support the growth of our client’s revenue and enhance their value proposition. Alongside the FCA’s Consumer Duty cross-cutting rules, we believe in partnerships, longevity, and innovation and, although there is still work for us to do, we are concentrating on the positives Consumer Duty brings and we are well on our way to improving our offering to the market”.
As part of our ongoing commitment to the Consumer Duty, we have recently surveyed a wide range of customers (customers who have made a purchase/claim/complaint in the last 3-6months) to gain real honest feedback as to where we are at as a Company in line with the 4 outcomes of Consumer Duty. We also sent this survey out to our Authorised Representatives and Directly Approved distribution network and from this feedback will be looking to make any necessary changes in line with the expectations of the Duty.