Financial Conduct Authority

A sweeping regulatory overhaul has been proposed to stop banks and insurers mistreating consumers and to ensure, among a raft of other measures, that financial firms are not able to leave existing customers languishing on poor deals while new ones are offered the best rates.

The Financial Conduct Authority has revealed details on how it plans to regulate prepaid funeral sellers from next summer, with measures including a ban on cold calling, a set penalty-free cancellation period and providers requiring authorisation.

Members of the House of Lords have called on the Government to protect access to cash and to do more to prevent the poorest from being excluded from access to financial services. The call for action comes as part of a report published today by the cross-party House of Lords Liaison Committee.

Around 8,800 London Capital & Finance (LCF) investors are set to receive compensation under a new Government scheme, the Treasury has announced today. But investors will only get back 80% of their initial investment, capped at £68,000. 

London Capital & Finance (LCF) investors have been given compensation hope after the announcement that HM Treasury will set up a scheme for those who lost money when the bond firm went bust. It comes as a damning report reveals the firm hadn't been effectively supervised by the financial watchdog. 

Barclays has been fined £26 million by the financial regulator over the poor treatment of 1.5 million borrowers who had fallen into arrears or financial difficulties over a period of four years - and affected customers have also been refunded. 

The Financial Conduct Authority has said firms should consider a range of support options – including waiving or reducing payments – under new proposals to help mortgage customers who are still struggling once coronavirus-related payment holidays end on 31 October 2020.

The financial regulator has announced it will ban commission models that give car finance dealers an incentive to raise customers' costs from next year.

Insurance customers struggling financially due to the pandemic will have until the end of October to ask for help such as a payment holiday or review of their premium under new proposals from the regulator. But it's NOT proposing that those already on a payment holiday should be able to extend it beyond three months.

The financial regulator has confirmed further measures to support borrowers struggling to make payments on car finance deals, buy-now-pay-later agreements and other credit products due to the coronavirus pandemic, with many able to get another three-month payment holiday if needed.