Treating Customers Fairly

The FCA has outlined six core consumer outcomes that it wishes to see because of the TCF initiative.

There are six consumer outcomes that firms should strive to achieve to ensure fair treatment of customers. These remain core to what we expect of firms.

  • Outcome 1: Consumers can be confident they are dealing with firms where the fair treatment of customers is central to the corporate culture.
  • Outcome 2: Products and services marketed and sold in the retail market are designed to meet the needs of identified consumer groups and are targeted accordingly.
  • Outcome 3: Consumers are provided with clear information and are kept appropriately informed before, during and after the point of sale.
  • Outcome 4: Where consumers receive advice, the advice is suitable and takes account of their circumstances.
  • Outcome 5: Consumers are provided with products that perform as firms have led them to expect, and the associated service is of an acceptable standard and as they have been led to expect.
  • Outcome 6: Consumers do not face unreasonable post-sale barriers imposed by firms to change product, switch provider, submit a claim or make a complaint.

TCF does not mean:

  • Creating satisfied customers – as a satisfied customer can still be treated unfairly and not know it.
  • That every firm must offer an identical level of service – the FCA recognises that businesses have a different resource and ways of doing things
  • That the FCA has the final say on which products consumers should want or be sold
  • That customer is no longer expected to make decisions or take responsibility for them