Advisers urged to prepare for first Consumer Duty deadline in two weeks

With just two weeks to go until the first deadline for the FCA’s new Consumer Duty, wellness specialist MorganAsh has developed a new suite of resources to help businesses prepare.

By October 31st, firms and advisers must have implementation plans approved by boards and ready for review by the FCA.

To support these businesses, MorganAsh host a Consumer Duty LinkedIn group to share latest news, advice and guidance. The group has a community of over 500 members from across multiple sectors and is supported by key figures and institutions that specialise in Consumer Duty and customer vulnerability.

MorganAsh is also hosting regular webinars to educate businesses and prepare them for the changes Consumer Duty brings. The next webinar includes special guests MoneyHub and focuses on the new requirements to collect data and monitor the characteristics of consumers to help ensure that firms are compliant.

In addition, it is providing updated reading material, videos and website support, as well as updates on MARS, the MorganAsh Resilience System and Consumer Duty reporting requirements.

MARS is an online tool to help advisers better identify, manage and evaluate consumer characteristics of vulnerability. Through clear and consistent assessments, businesses can identify potential vulnerabilities and generate a ‘Resilience Rating’ – much like a credit score.

This will be essential both to find out if the client has characteristics that might make them vulnerable, and then to evidence what measures have been taken to ensure that whatever their circumstances they achieve a good outcome.

Andrew Gething, managing director of MorganAsh, said: “With the first Consumer Duty deadline looming imminently, we wanted to help businesses across the sector navigate what is a major change to how they operate and how they manage and support their customers.

“The LinkedIn group in particular has proven to be a real success, providing a valuable platform for businesses to come together and better understand the requirements of the Duty in a supportive forum.

“We’ll be here to provide the tools and support businesses need to ensure good outcomes for customers and meet the greater demands of the regulator."