The Financial Services Authority is to clarify 'treating customers fairly' (TCF) responsibilities for both providers and distributors in the near future. They are to look at the dependencies throughout the chain, from insurer through to distributor and then to the customer.
They believe that providers need to consider whether their products are properly designed, targeted and tested, and whether they were providing clear and accurate information to their distribution chain about the type of products they were offering, and the risks associated with them. Providers will be expected to take an interest in the overall quality of their distribution too, by considering what statistics tell them about the quality of sales, and acting on the results.
Our view
Treating all clients fairly is a good thing. The difficulty is going to be setting the standards to which all finance companies must adhere to. As ever, it will be very difficult to prove that you have not been treated fairly either physically or in contract terms.