The Equity Release Council has launched new guidance to support its members to comply with the forthcoming Consumer Duty.

A deadline of 31 July has been set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the implementation of the duty.

Launched today, the guidance was informed by workshops attended by its members of the Council, which is the representative body for the UK equity release sector.

The guidance is made up of three sections, entitled “introduction to a fair value assessment”, “completing a fair value assessment”, and “governing a fair value assessment”. The Council said it is aimed at provider and adviser firms, termed manufacturers and distributers of the duty.

Head of risk, policy and compliance at the Council, Kelly Melville-Kelly, commented: “The FCA has said price and value is one of the core elements of the duty across financial services, so it’s no wonder it has generated the most enquires from our members.

“Firms need to ensure the price a customer pays for a product or service is reasonable, compared to the benefits they will receive. Our members pledge to go beyond statutory duty when they join the Council and promise to abide by its consumer focused safeguards.

“These safeguards have already moved to a principles and outcomes based approach. However, the Duty will still require a cultural shift for many firms. Our guidance is thorough, and we make no apologies for that because there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the duty. Each firm will have to devise its own bespoke procedures.

“Firms will need to build on this guidance and think critically about their own processes and templates, based on their product, business models and internal governance.”

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