It wants firms to make sure staff are trained to manage the needs of vulnerable people and to understand that customers’ circumstances can change
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released draft guidance to the financial services sectors on treating vulnerable consumers fairly.
In the consultation, the regulator set out practical standards for firms to follow to ensure staff understand the needs if vulnerable people and are trained to accommodate them.
Christopher Woolard, strategy and competition director for the FCA, said the regulator wants the fair treatment of vulnerable consumers to be “explicitly [embedded]” into business culture.
Some companies are “clearly” failing to take the needs of vulnerable customers into account, Woolard added, and that the FCA is prepared to take action where it finds such conduct.