What is the Consumer Duty?
The Consumer Duty is an FCA standard requiring firms to deliver good outcomes for retail customers. It spans four outcomes — products and services, price and value, consumer understanding and consumer support — and requires firms to evidence results rather than simply follow process.
Three cross-cutting rules sit above the outcomes: act in good faith, avoid foreseeable harm, and enable customers to pursue their financial objectives. Together they raise the standard from treating customers fairly to delivering good outcomes.
The evidential shift is what firms find demanding. Boards must review outcomes annually, which means holding data showing that customers understood what they bought, that it met their needs, that vulnerable customers were not disadvantaged, and that price bore a reasonable relationship to value.
It has changed what firms need to know about their clients. A well-evidenced client record — kept current, showing engagement and understanding over time — is no longer good practice alone; it is how compliance with the Duty is demonstrated.