Customers ‘not seeing the impact’ of Consumer Duty one year on

Over four in five (84%) consumers have reported no improvement in how financial providers treat them following the implementation of Consumer Duty by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last year, Smart Money People has reported.

Consumer Duty was introduced in July 2023 in order to set out requirements for firms to follow to deliver good outcomes for their customers, while providing support to vulnerable consumers.

The firm’s study, which put questions to 2,000 people and is part of its Your Money, Your Voice campaign, also revealed that 7% of consumers report worsening levels of service in the past 12 months.

Consumers’ biggest frustrations are having no access to human support (48%), untrained staff (34%), no available phone number (32%) and an over-reliance on chatbots (24%).

Despite these grievances, just 23% of customers have left a review for their provider in the past 12 months and only 35% said they have given feedback directly to their provider in the past five years, suggesting their negative experiences not being recorded.

Personal loan and buy now, pay later customers were the least satisfied with the service they have received, with other reasons including over-reliance on live chats (30%) and poor customer communications (28%).

An additional fifth (22%) of people had expressed unempathetic staff members too.

Chief executive officer at Smart Money People, Jacqueline Dewey, said: "The FCA’s Consumer Duty guidelines are specifically designed to put the onus of consumer communications and outcomes on the provider. However, our data shows customers are not seeing the impact of these guidelines 12 months later.

"It’s particularly concerning that vulnerable customers have not seen an improvement in their experience during this time. This is why we are encouraging consumers to feedback on both good and bad experiences. Smart Money People works with financial services organisations to better understand and serve their customers, helping to drive better outcomes for both providers and their customers."



Share Story:

Recent Stories


FREE E-NEWS SIGN UP

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive breaking news and other industry announcements by email.

  Please tick here to confirm you are happy to receive third party promotions from carefully selected partners.


NEW BUILD IN FOCUS - NEW EPISODE OF THE MORTGAGE INSIDER PODCAST, OUT NOW
Figures from the National House-Building Council saw Q1 2025 register a 36% increase in new homes built across the UK compared with the same period last year, representing a striking development for the first-time buyer market. But with the higher cost of building, ongoing planning challenges and new and changing regulations, how sustainable is this growth? And what does it mean for brokers?

The role of the bridging market and technology usage in the industry
Content editor, Dan McGrath, sat down with chief operating officer at Black & White Bridging, Damien Druce, and head of development finance at Empire Global Finance, Pete Williams, to explore the role of the bridging sector, the role of AI across the industry and how the property market has fared in the Labour Government’s first year in office.


Does the North-South divide still exist in the UK housing market?
What do the most expensive parts of the country reveal about shifting demand? And why is the Manchester housing market now outperforming many southern counterparts?



In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.

The new episode of The Mortgage Insider podcast, out now
Regional housing markets now matter more than ever. While London and the Southeast still tend to dominate the headlines from a house price and affordability perspective, much of the growth in rental yields and buyer demand is coming from other parts of the UK.

In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.